Charlene White has broken her silence after being voted off I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here.
The Loose Women star became the first celebrity to be sent home from this year’s series on Friday night, after she received the fewest votes from the public.
In her first interview since leaving the jungle, the 42-year-old spoke about how her experience on the show changed when Matt Hancock walked in.
She told MailOnline: “I was shocked when he walked in, but also not shocked.”
“Immediately, I was doing the mental arithmetic in my head, and it had stopped at that point for me just being there and having a laugh and a joke – that finished when Matt came.”
Matt was forced to resign from his position as the UK Health Secretary last year, after it was revealed that he had breached Covid-19 social distancing restrictions by kissing his colleague Gina Coladangelo at his cabinet office – despite being married.
Charlene, whose aunt died from Covid, continued: “I have interviewed enough of the families that have lost loved ones during the pandemic. I am one of those.”
“I spoke to so many families that lost dads, mums, grandads, grandparents. As soon as he walked in, I thought, ‘I’m going to be walking a tightrope here.'”
The mum-of-two also explained why she refused to sleep in the RV with Matt, saying: “I didn’t want anyone to feel like I was being too sympathetic to Matt because that would jeopardise the job that I love and jeopardise my journalistic integrity.”
“It would have shattered the impartiality I’ve consistently had the past 20 years.”
“In my heart I felt if I didn’t represent those people who are still grieving and still hurting, if I don’t think about them and ask the questions that I want to know regarding his reasoning for going in the jungle… then I’m not doing my job.”
“It went from me having a laugh to me constantly worrying about whether or not I could still do my job when I came out.”
Speaking about her departure from the show, Charlene said: “There is an element of relief now I’m out, but I loved being in there and I’m really genuinely gutted to be out because we got into a rhythm.”
“I didn’t expect that immediate love, bond, and trust that we had pretty much for the very start. It feels weird to be here without them and I do really miss them.”
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here continues tonight on ITV and Virgin Media One.
