Matt Hancock should prepare for a dressing down from fellow I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! contestant Charlene White, whose great aunt died from Covid, reports claim.
The former Health Secretary is said to be 12th and final campmate heading into the jungle for this year’s series and has already faced staunch criticism for abandoning his constituents in West Suffolk.
And now insiders have warned that Mr Hancock should expect to be put in the hot seat by co-star White over the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
White was left devastated in 2020 after her great aunt Dell died in hospital from the virus.
Earlier this year, she broke down in tears live on Loose Women while detailing her family’s heartbreak at not being able to comfort each other at the funeral.
Speaking on the ITV programme at the time, she said: ‘My family stuck by the rules, we had to bury family members without even being able to hug each other.
‘I had to sit in a crematorium while my aunt was buried and because I wasn’t living in the same household as my brother and sister and my dad, in a pew by myself with my baby daughter on my lap as we were all in floods of tears and we can’t hug each other.’
She continued: ‘I stood by the graveside as grave diggers were filling that grave and watching my cousin in floods of tears and not being able to hug her because we were following the rules because we didn’t know what else to do.’
Mr Hancock was forced to quit as Health Secretary in June 2021 after breaking his own social distancing rules by having an affair in his ministerial office with aide Gina Coladangelo.
An ITV insider has warned Mr Hancock could be confronted by the newsreader.
‘Matt should expect a grilling from Charlene,’ they told the MailOnline.
Mr Hancock was immediately suspended from the Conservative Party for joining the ITV show.
He has since defended his appearance though, claiming it will help him communicate with the British people, including those who are politically disengaged.
‘Where better to show the human side of those who make these decisions than with the most watched programme on TV?’ he said.
‘And there are many ways to communicate. It’s one of the many important things I learnt during the pandemic.’
Bookies are already predicting Mr Hancock will break records as the most nominated contestant to take on the gruesome Bushtucker trials, as people seek to get revenge for his incompetence during the pandemic.
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! launches on Sunday at 9pm on ITV.