Matt Hancock has addressed the claims he was “bullied” on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!
The fan-favourite show ended on Sunday, November 27, and saw Jill Scott be crowned Queen of the Jungle.
Hollyoaks star Owen Warner placed runner-up and former UK Health Secretary Matt clinched third place.
Matt sparked uproar last month when he entered the Australian jungle as a bombshell campmate.
Last year, the 44-year-old made headlines 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.
Matt was subsequently forced to resign from his position as Health Secretary.
Following his return to the UK, the 44-year-old opened up about his experience with his campmates.
Matt told MailOnline: “I didn’t feel bullied at all in the jungle.”
“I formed an extraordinary bond with Seann Walsh in a short period of time, and then it took a few days to work through and develop relationships with the rest of the campmates.”
“Whatever he says about me, I think Boy George is wonderful and I did not expect to say that about him because we have very different backgrounds, to say the least. It took us a few days, but we had, what I would call, grown-up, respectful discussions.”
“Some of them, I could tell, didn’t take to me straightaway but it softened over time. Being in the jungle also gives you lots of time to think about what really matters. I thought about how much I care for the people I really love.”
Matt opened up about his Covid-19 kissing scandal to his campmate Babatúndé Aléshé while in the jungle.
The former UK Health Secretary confided in him that his life had been “tough” ever since the kissing scandal came to light.
“You messed up,” the comedian told him candidly.
“It was really tough. I messed up and I fessed up,” Matt said. “I resigned and it’s no excuse, but I fell in love, right? That also had a lot of other consequences obviously.”
Babatúndé joked: “You didn’t just ‘fall in love’ you were grabbing booty bruv!”
Matt replied: “Oh, give over,” before adding: “That’s been hard. I obviously brought it on myself, so yeah… it’s been tough.”
Asked whether he was still with “the lady”, the former Health Secretary said: “With Gina? Yeah, very much so, yeah, totally. That’ll be the best thing about being kicked out, seeing her on the bridge.”
Matt was also grilled on the scandal by his campmate Scarlette Douglas, who candidly told him that his breaching of Covid-19 restrictions was making it “difficult” for people to warm up to him in the jungle.
“A lot of things that happened with you during the times, which does make it difficult,” the TV presenter told him. “A lot of people had difficult times, and then to see that people that had kind of set the rules had then broken them I think was a big slap in the face for everyone.”
Matt responded: “Look, I know how people felt. That’s why I resigned, right? I know how people felt and so good on you for saying that, thank you.”
