Scarlette Douglas said despite appearing friendly with former health secretary Matt Hancock in the Australian jungle it didn’t mean they’ll be “best mates” after the I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! series has finished.
The TV presenter, 35, was emotional after she became the second celebrity contestant to be eliminated from the ITV reality show on Sunday having received the fewest votes, following Loose Women star Charlene White’s exit two nights before.
Her departure came after Hancock discussed his dyslexia for the first time since entering the camp, opening up about his experience of being diagnosed while at university saying he “desperately wanted to learn” and found he could do maths but struggled with English.
Speaking about her relationship with the West Suffolk MP, Douglas said on Good Morning Britain: “He came in and everybody was shocked to see him in there and for me I had to pull him aside and just let him know how I was feeling about him being in the jungle.
“When we are in there, we are in an enclosed space, it’s a very strange environment so nobody wants it to be toxic. We just have to get on, be friends, be a family in camp otherwise it’s not going to work.
“In the jungle we will get on, but it doesn’t mean that on the outside we’ll be best mates at all but in here we’ll just work together as a team and that’s all we can do. That’s the most important thing.”
When co-host Richard Madeley asked the A Place In The Sun presenter if she liked the politician, she replied: “I like his get up and go.”
She continued: “I like the fact that he has drive, I like that he is determined. I like that he won’t give up anything and those attributes I like in general.
“So do I like Matt Hancock specifically, I don’t think I had enough time to really get to know him because when he came in, he was trying to win us all over. He was doing his best to make sure he was involved in everything but for me, it was just that I want to make sure as a camp we all get on.”
After two weeks in the jungle, Hancock discussed his dyslexia diagnosis for the first time during Sunday’s show, having vowed to use the “incredible platform” to raise awareness of the learning difficulty ahead of his appearance.
Chatting to comedians Babatunde Aleshe and Seann Walsh in the episode, Hancock was asked what he had struggled with during life, to which he replied: “I can’t dance, I can’t sing and I can’t read very well, very quickly.”
Walsh asked: “Are you talking about reading specifically?”
The former health secretary replied: “Yeah. And then the moment I was identified as dyslexic at university it was ‘Ahh so actually I am okay with language, it’s just my brain works differently and I can work on that’.”
Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty that causes problems with reading, writing and spelling, according to the NHS website.
A spokesperson for Hancock previously said: “The second reading of Matt’s Dyslexia Screening and Teacher Training Bill is just days after I’m A Celebrity… finishes.
“By going on the show, Matt hopes to raise the profile of his dyslexia campaign and will use the platform to talk about an issue he really cares about in front of millions of people.
“Matt is determined that no child should leave primary school not knowing if they have dyslexia.
They added that the MP will be making a donation to St Nicholas Hospice in Suffolk and causes supporting dyslexia – including the British Dyslexia Association, off the back of his appearance.
In a preview for Monday night’s episode, campmate Owen Warner makes co-hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly laugh with a quick remark during the return of the Boiling Point challenge.
The 23-year-old Hollyoaks actor volunteers to take part in the challenge where he has to find different spanners before using them to loosen stars in order to earn meals for his fellow campmates.
Commenting on his use of the spanner, Donnelly says: “That’s not his first rodeo with a spanner,” while McPartlin says: “Good speed that.”
He adds: “You’ve used a spanner before, haven’t you Owen?”
Warner jokes: “I get called one enough times.”
The episode will see the third celebrity contestant with the fewest public votes to be eliminated from the ITV reality series.
