I’m A Celebrity bosses insist they’re ‘not trying to divide camp’ with Matt Hancock

TV bosses have again defended Matt Hancock’s appearance on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! saying it is “not a question of trying to divide camp”.

The show’s executive producer Olly Nash spoke to ITV news to defend the decision to sign up a working MP.

Olly Nash said it wasn’t the first time a politician or “people who have very strong views about certain things” had entered the jungle.

The former health secretary – who was suspended from the Conservative party after signing up to the reality TV show – is joining the likes of rugby player Mike Tindall and pop star Boy George as a late entry into the Australian jungle.

It seems certain to cause shock and potential rows in camp when he does walk in.

But Olly said: “We’ve put in loads of politicians over the years, we also put in people who have had very very strong views about certain things and sometimes it plays out in camp and sometimes it doesn’t.

“It’s not a question of trying to divide camp, we have never been a deliberately divisive camp. It’s up to them to come into the camp and it’s up to them if they want to leave.”

Hancock is not the first MP to appear on the show, joining the likes of Nadine Dorries and MEP Stanley Johnson.

ITV news also revealed the show is so big now there is a backroom team of around 700 staff that are employed every year to ensure the show’s smooth running. Around 580 of those are local Australians.

It comes after a number of famous faces – including Loose Women star Denise Welch, Eamonn Holmes, and Piers Morgan – have shared their distaste after learning that the controversial British politician will be entering the jungle.

And, awkwardly, tweets have also emerged from one of Hancock’s soon-to-be co-stars slating him at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Scarlette Douglas made her opinions on Hancock crystal clear in a series of scathing tweets after he was caught having an affair with his closest aide, Gina Coladangelo, as the pair were filmed kissing on CCTV.

In June 2021, after his rule-breaking affair was exposed, the MP took to Twitter to share an apology video – but evidently, his apologies meant nothing to Scarlette who urged Hancock to ‘get out’ of government.

Within 15 minutes of the video being posted on social media, Scarlette tweeted ‘good, get out of here’.