For those unlucky enough to see the CCTV footage, the image of Matt Hancock groping at his mistress’ bum while they canoodled has been a hard image to shake.
The former health secretary is set to become the 12th contestant to enter the jungle during this year’s I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! series.
While the debate rages about whether a former Cabinet minister qualifies as a celeb at all, the MP’s appearance has certainly got tongues wagging both in Westminster and among the wider population.
Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives decided to strip the whip from the 44-year-old after being told about his decision to go into the Aussie bush for telly.
It means he will not be classed as being a Tory MP when he votes in future, and is instead sitting as an independent until the whip is restored.
(Image: Getty Images)
ITV’s decision to have Mr Hancock as one of 2023’s contenders in the hit show — alongside the likes of Boy George and Chris Moyles — has irked some of the general public as well.
A petition set up by Covid-19 Bereaved Families For Justice aimed at stopping the former minister, who played a key part in overseeing the UK response to the pandemic, has attracted more than 42,000 signatures.
It was his affair that cost the politician his job at the government top table last year. Here is how it unfolded.
How was Matt Hancock’s affair exposed?
(Image: Image: The Sun)
The ex-health sec quit his role in June 2021 after he was exposed for breaking the very same social distancing rules that he had in helped to set into law.
The affair was exposed after Mr Hancock was caught on CCTV canoodling with his aide Gina Coladangelo, who he had met at university.
It is believed that the images were leaked by an insider at the Department of Health on May 6, 2021.
A probe was established afterwards to try and find how out the footage from the departmental office made its way into the press’ hands.
At the time of the pictures being published, both Mr Hancock and Ms Coladangelo were separately married, each with their own children.
Following the scandal, the West Suffolk MP faced immense pressure to resign his Cabinet post.
In his letter of resignation in the days after the press reports, he told then-prime minister Boris Johnson that he had let the public down.
He said: “I owe it to the people who have sacrificed so much in this pandemic to be honest when we have let them down.”
Both Mr Hancock and his lover separated from their partners following the revelation.
What has Matt Hancock’s wife said?
(Image: Beretta/Sims/REX/Shutterstock)
The former Mrs Hancock has kept a dignified silence in public about her soon-to-be ex-husband.
But, according to The Mirror, Martha Hoyer Millar has been left stunned by his decision to appear on I’m A Celeb.
A friend of Martha has branded the father-of-three a “total halfwit who’s making some unwise career moves”, according to the newspaper.
Hancock moved out of the family home in north-west London that he shared with wife Martha after the revelations about his affair hit the front page of The Sun in 2021.
Martha, 44, is understood to currently be going through divorce proceedings with her estranged husband.
They had been together for more than 15 years before their life was shattered by the infidelity.
They share three children together — a daughter and two sons — aged 14, 13 and eight.
Meanwhile, Gina has already jetted out to Australia to support Hancock during his I’m A Celebrity stint when he’s posted in this week.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
