Matt Hancock consulted girlfriend ‘at length’ before signing up for I’m a Celebrity & was warned it would be ‘high risk’

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MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 29: Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care walks to a media interview on the first day of the Conservative Party Conference on September 29, 2019 in Manchester, England. Despite Parliament voting against a government motion to award a recess, Conservative Party Conference still goes ahead. Parliament will continue with its business for the duration. (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images) GINA COLADANGELO

DISGRACED MP Matt Hancock reportedly asked his PR expert girlfriend for advice before deciding to appear on the hit show.

Friends say ex-Health Secretary Hancock, 44, was initially torn about entering the jungle having turned the offer down twice before.

Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock reportedly consulted his PR girlfriend at length about entering the jungle
Matt Hancock was exposed by HOAR to be breaking his own lockdown rules

But according to reports in The Times, he sought advice from a small group, including tapping into Gina‘s specialist public relations knowledge, before agreeing to appear on the ITV show.

A friend of the couple said: “He consulted her at length. They are very much a team.”

They were also a part of the same team at the Department of Health where HOAR exposed CCTV of them kissing under strict social distancing rules.

Hancock was married at the time with three children but has since taken issue with the term ‘affair’.

Speaking to fellow celebs, Hancock said: “I messed up and I fessed up.”

“It’s no excuse but I fell in love.”

He also went on to say that Gina will be waiting for him on the TV show’s wooden bridge and that seeing her will be the “best thing about being kicked out”.

The pair first met Hancock at Oxford in the 1990s were Hancock was reportedly smitten from the start.

A contemporary there recalled: “Matt was a bit of a nonentity, whereas Gina was really nice, fun and incredibly popular with the male contingent. Oriel [her college] had this boorish male atmosphere still and she was very adept at dealing with those kind of young men.

“I think Matt, in contrast, was a sort of puppy dog, following her around. This [the love affair] is a case of persistence paying off.”

The West Suffolk MP said he was on the show “for a bit of forgiveness” but celebs like pop culture icon Boy George weren’t so sympathetic to his cause.

The Culture Club singer revealed his mum nearly died of Covid during the pandemic and that he could not visit her.

Friends say they warned Hancock about the potential backlash before he jet-setted to the jungle.

One source said: “I told him there were pros and cons to it, and it basically depended on what he wanted to do career-wise over the next decade.”

“If he wanted to climb the greasy pole, play the Westminster game, sit around waiting for a call to be a cabinet minister again, and otherwise just be a Tory backbencher for the next 20 years, that he shouldn’t do it.”

“But if he wanted a platform to engage with millions of viewers, push a lot of the campaigns he cares about, show what he’s actually like as a person, and didn’t mind probably not serving in government again, then it could be a good opportunity… It was obviously very high risk.”

But it seems all the specialist communications advice in the world could not undo, in the publics eyes, what had already been done.

A source told The Times that they felt sorry for Hancock’s ex Martha.

They said: “How does it feel to be her, or one of their three children, as he blithely tells the nation about falling in love?”

“And the problem is, when you cheat on your spouse, you cheat on your family.”

Matt Hancock is currently on ‘I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!’ which is being filmed in the Australian jungle
Hancock says he wanted to go out to go on the show ‘for a bit of forgiveness’
Celebs like pop icon Boy George aren’t sympathetic to his cause