Holly Willoughby appeared to have a softer reaction compared to many over Matt Hancock's decision to take part in I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! ITV's signing of the former health secretary for the reality show was first reported on Tuesday (November 1).
However, despite still not being confirmed by the broadcaster, Matt, 44, has been spotted arriving in Australia and has also written a column in The Sun defending his decision to agree to take part in the popular programme. He is expected to be a latecomer into the camp, not one of the 10 original stars revealed earlier this week as part of the confirmed line-up.
Matt, who has been suspended as a Tory MP upon his reality TV decision, is reportedly set to make his way into the jungle as one of two additional campmates alongside comedian Seann Walsh.
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The MP's signing for the show has, of course, been hitting headlines and has been discussed for much of the day on all of ITV's flagship daytime shows. During Wednesday's edition of This Morning, Phillip Schofield warned Matt would be "tortured by the public", while his co-star Holly Willoughby suggested people may "begin to feel sorry for him" during his upcoming jungle stint.
During the latest, This Morning's View segment with Gyles Brandreth and Anushka Asthana, Holly, 41 asked: "Is it high risk? The thing is, can it get much worse?
"The opinion of him hasn't been great of late so maybe this isn't a risk, maybe this is a chance for him to possibly turn it around... or people begin to feel sorry for him. If you look at the narrative that's being said about him, it is brutal." Holly later added that she had interviewed Matt on This Morning and suggested she "personally, found him quite charming."
Prior to Holly's comments, Phillip said of Matt's impending appearance on I'm A Celeb: "He’s going to be tortured by the public, they’re going to vote him in for every single trial. MPs don’t do well in the judging; I think Nadine Dorries might have been first out. So you sort of predict that he’s going to do every single trial and then get sent home."
Earlier on Good Morning Britain, Ed Balls said as he hosted the show alongside Susanna Reid: "Personally, I think good luck to him. But I think he is totally crackers to do this." He went on: "Because I think it’s the wrong place to do it from, the wrong time and the wrong programme. To do it as a sitting MP just brings all these questions. He’s lost the whip, Sunak the Prime Minister is clearly furious, his constituents are going to be up in arms. He’s been paid to do this while he’s also going to the jungle."
Ed, who took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2016, then compared the BBC dancing contest to the ITV reality TV show. "And then finally, Strictly, nice, warm, fun programme. I’m A Celebrity is tough. And you know, the other contestants will be, you know, I think supportive,” he said.
"And if he gets the tokens and brings in the food, then he’ll be popular. But, you know, I mean, to eat an ostrich anus, live on television, while still a sitting MP and then ask the public do you want to see me do it again? I think they might want to see him do it. … I just worry for him that, wrong programme, wrong timing, wrong place to do it from, shouldn’t be doing it, but, you know, it’s gonna be fun, isn’t it? We’re looking forward to it."
Susanna then added: "It's going to be fun to watch. A great booking by ITV," but later interjected into a fiery debate between two of the show's guests to argue: "The programme is called I'm a Celebrity, he's not a celebrity. He's an MP!" to which former politician and I’m A Celebrity star Lembit Öpik said: " He's a celebrity now! He's been on every front page..."
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