The former health secretary was beaten by footballer Jill Scott and actor Owen Warner in the final.
Image source, ITV/ShutterstockMatt Hancock has finished in third place on ITV reality series I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!
The former health secretary was beaten by footballer Jill Scott and Hollyoaks star Owen Warner in Sunday’s final.
The MP’s participation in the show has been controversial – he had the Tory whip suspended after his involvement was announced.
Asked by Ant and Dec why he took part in the series, Hancock said: “I wanted to show what I’m like as a person.”
“Lots of people come to me with pre-conceived ideas for obvious reasons, and I just wanted to be myself,” he continued.
“But I also believe that for politicians as a whole, we don’t come across as human enough. And this is probably the most extreme way of showing who you are.”
He added: “I carry with me expectations, people think they know me, and actually they don’t, they know Matt Hancock from the TV and the media.”
Hancock took part in 10 Bushtucker trials during his time in the jungle, five of which were the result of a public vote.
During his exit interview, Hancock admitted he was nervous about taking part, and admitted he had expected the tough questions he was asked by other campmates.
“Some of those grillings were really enjoyable and a release, because I could say exactly what I thought, and some were very emotional about some parts of my past that everybody knows about,” he said.
“We had really grown-up conversations about it, and there were strong feelings but there wasn’t any aggro, they were discussions.”
He concluded: “I know it was controversial, me coming in here… but we’ve all got lots of sides to our personalities.”
Since last week, the public have been voting to keep their favourite campmates in the jungle, rather than to evict their least favourites.
Image source, ITV/Shutterstock
Hancock’s participation in the series was criticised by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who said Hancock should not be away from his constituents while Parliament is sitting.
The 44-year-old has also been criticised by Conservative colleagues and opposition MPs, as well as his local Conservative association who said it was “disappointed” and accused Hancock of a “serious error of judgement”.
In 2021, Hancock was caught on CCTV kissing a colleague while social distancing guidelines he helped devise were in place. He faced a barrage of criticism as a result and resigned as health secretary.
Soon after his arrival in the camp on 9 November, a banner was flown over it bearing a message from the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group.
But Hancock, who said he entered the jungle to raise awareness of his dyslexia campaign, survived all the public-voted evictions during his time on the show.
Hancock previously said he would donate some of his fee for taking part in the series – reported to be £400,000 – to a hospice in his constituency and dyslexia charities.
The West Suffolk MP has spoken on the programme about how being diagnosed with dyslexia at university was a defining moment.
One of the aims of the MP’s Dyslexia Screening and Teacher Training Bill is that no child should leave primary school “not knowing if they have dyslexia”, a spokesman for Mr Hancock said.
Image source, ITV
ITV News presenter Charlene White, A Place In The Sun host Scarlette Douglas, Coronation Street star Sue Cleaver and singer Boy George were among the campmates to be eliminated before Hancock.
Other contestants who were evicted before the former health secretary included comedian Babatunde Aléshé, radio DJ Chris Moyles, comedian Seann Walsh and former rugby player Mike Tindall.
Hancock, 44, was told he had finished in third place by hosts Ant and Dec during the final, broadcast on ITV on Sunday.
Earlier in the episode, Scott, Hancock and Warner were seen taking part in their last Bushtucker trials, before enjoying their final meal together in camp.