Matt Hancock lands in Australia to join I’m A Celeb as MP is seen for the first time since being revealed as 12th star
Matt Hancock has landed in Australia after signing up to I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here.
The politician, who had to resign after The Sun exposed him for breaking his own lockdown rules by having an affair in the office, is the 12th star to go into the Jungle after landing at Brisbane Airport.
Matt, who has since been suspended as a Tory MP, is set to join Love Island’s Olivia Attwood and ex England rugby player Mike Tindall for the show which starts on Sunday.
A TV insider said: “Matt is a sensational signing for the show as producers love a star with a story to tell – and they always hope they’ll spill the beans round the campfire.
“He’s the latest in a long line of figures from the political sphere, including MP Nadine Dorries, Stanley Johnson and MP Lembit Opik.
“There’s been a question mark over who the twelfth campmate would be, partly because negotiations over Matt going in were so top secret. It seems Matt was a last-minute signing.”
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A spokesman for I’m A Celebrity said: “We will announce the full line-up in due course.”
The MP is on a reality TV hot streak after taking part in the upcoming series of tough Channel 4 show Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.
It will air in the new year following his jungle stint.
Shortly after The Sun broke news of his place in the I’m A Celeb camp, he had the Tory whip removed for abandoning the Commons and his constituents in his Suffolk seat.
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Westminster sources say Mr Hancock sprung the I’m A Celeb news on stunned Tory colleagues after not getting promoted in Rishi Sunak‘s reshuffle late last week.
He had also been tipped to run for boss of the powerful House of Commons Treasury committee, but unexpectedly pulled out of that race on Monday.
Fellow Tory Nadine Dorries had the whip stripped in 2013 for appearing on the show during Commons time.