Last night, she was the first campmate to be evicted from I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! and now Charlene White says she was left in an impossible position when ITV put Matt Hancock in the jungle.
The 42-year-old journalist feared she would lose her job if she was seen to be too sympathetic towards the ex-Health Secretary, writes The Mirror.
Charlene, who lost an aunt to Covid, said she “walked a tightrope” as she tried to remain impartial as Hancock entered the jungle as a campmate.
But the Loose Women host admitted she couldn’t get the families still grieving after the pandemic out of her mind. She told The Mirror and other press: “Being there and having a laugh and having a joke – that kind of finished when Matt came. Because I have interviewed enough of the families who have lost loved ones during the pandemic. I am one of those. As soon as he walked in I thought ‘I’m going to be walking a tightrope here’.”
The mum-of-two also tearfully revealed that she regrets not fully explaining her reasons for refusing to sleep in the comfy RV bed.
Charlene said she felt she had to represent bereaved families: “If I don’t think about them and ask the questions they want to know regarding his reasoning for going into the jungle when we are in the middle of the inquiry into the reaction after the pandemic... then I’m not doing my job. It went from me just having a laugh to constantly worrying... whether I would still be taken seriously when it comes to dealing with politicians.
“And whether viewers would think I was being too sympathetic to the Conservative party. I was constantly going through inner turmoil.”
Charlene was off to a flying start on the show and impressed viewers during the opening episode in the Ledge trial, bungeeing off a 32-storey building. However, one of the reasons she may have struggled to win votes was a row over the sleeping situation in the RV – dubbed “RV Gate” by fans and hosts Ant and Dec.
As she had the title of deputy camp leader to Hancock, Charlene had the privilege to sleep in a comfy bed next to him in the motorhome - but she refused.
In the show, Charlene blamed her refusal on a spider – but last night explained really she was terrified she would lose her journalistic integrity by sleeping next to Matt.
Fighting back tears, she said: “I didn’t want to get out of the jungle to find that I had no job. I was completely wrong not to be more explicit about it. I understand that now. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.” Despite the pain and worry, Charlene, who had three showers within hours of leaving camp to feel properly clean, has fond memories of her jungle experience.
She said: “I loved being in there. And I really, genuinely, am gutted to be out because we got into a rhythm. And I felt like we were a camp who were very honest with each other.”
Charlene said she was looking forward to seeing her children now that she had departed the jungle. She and TV exec partner Andy have son Alfie, five, and daughter Florence, three.
Charlene said she was looking forward to picking Alfie up from school, adding: “I am desperate for hugs from both of them and from Andy.”
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