I’m an MP… get me out of here!: Matt Hancock on ITV’s ‘I’m a Celebrity’

By Becks Fleet

It’s that time of the year again: Halloween has come and gone, Christmas is slowly creeping closer, and it’s getting dark so early that 6pm is starting to feel like the middle of the night. It can only mean one thing…the return of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!’.

The timeless combination of Geordie banter, genitalia of exotic animals and washed-up C-List celebrities that graces our lives every year like clockwork. If you’ve watched some of this year’s edition (or checked social media in general, really), you’ll know that the ensemble of long-irrelevant musicians, retired footballers and Love Island rejects are joined by none other than Matt Hancock, one of several Tory MPs who are household names for all the wrong reasons.

Unusually, this is not the first time a Tory MP has joined the cast of I’m A Celebrity to try to boost their image. About ten years ago, Boris fangirl and Tory MP Nadine Dorries also entered the jungle, eventually becoming the first contestant to be eliminated that year. Like Hancock, she also had the Conservative Whip removed, meaning she sat as an independent MP on her return from Australia, but had it restored a few months later. Will Hancock also get the Whip restored in a few months’ time? Probably, but if he wins the show maybe he’ll decide to stay in the rainforest in his new, esteemed role as King of The Jungle. We can only hope.

Why would a current sitting MP, especially one who is well-known to the public like Hancock, choose to jeopardise their own career to eat kangaroo anus live on ITV for a few weeks? Of course, the elephant in the room is the obscene amount of money he’s accepted to appear on the show: it’s rumoured to be somewhere in the region of £400,000 – equivalent to around five years’ worth of the basic MP salary. Personally, I can’t really argue with that justification for going in the jungle; I’d sacrifice my dignity on national TV for a few weeks for £400k.

But other than money, what is Hancock aiming to gain from his appearance on I’m A Celebrity? Could he be attempting to rehabilitate his image after years of scandals and controversy? Remember, this is a man who spent three years in charge of an increasingly struggling NHS, launched his own mobile app, which was accused of spying on its users, and was caught having an affair during the pandemic on video footage which we were all unwillingly subjected to. On top of that, his spell on the show so far has mostly consisted of him being (unsurprisingly) voted for by the public to take part in the trials and being questioned by fellow campmates on his myriad of bad decisions. If Hancock really is looking to rehabilitate his image, going on a show where he’ll lose his dignity and have fellow contestants remind the public of his actions doesn’t seem like the best way to do it.

There is lots of very legitimate criticism of ITV’s decision to invite Hancock to appear on the show, particularly from groups representing those most impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, who argue that his appearance could help restore his image and lead to the public forgiving him for his breach of lockdown rules. I’d agree with this – politicians appearing on reality shows has always been a controversial subject. ITV’s lust for juicy drama doesn’t justify the problematic nature of a sitting MP taking a break from his democratically elected role to take part in a reality TV show. For a few weeks, his constituents will have no representation in Parliament and no one to act as their voice on bills that could harm Hancock’s constituency.

Having said that, I still enjoy the idea of Matt Hancock being tormented by thousands of bugs in a Bush Tucker Trial while he’s laughed at by Ant & Dec. If we can’t vote out the Tories in a general election for another couple of years, at least we can watch one of them lose his dignity in camp and career on live TV.

Illustration: Rosie Bromiley