The I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! campmates have laid into Matt Hancock with several of the contestants admitting they could have quit the show when he entered.
Charlene White questioned the wisdom of him coming in when the Government has been stable "for five minutes" and Chris Moyles said he had "taken a few weeks off his job".
Boy George then said her mum could have died from Covid and he would have walked if that happened.
After he had come into camp with Seann Walsh, Owen Warner said to Babatúndé Aléshé: “Do you have any strong views on the geezer?”
Babatúndé said: “It’s hard to kind of like push your views aside, it really is, because of the many people whose lives have been affected. But, at the same time, we’ve got to be welcoming and we’ve got to treat people as humans obviously.”
Meanwhile, more camp mates struggled to come to terms with the disgraced MP entrance into the jungle as Sue Cleaver said to Boy George and Mike Tindall of Mr Hancock: “He sticks out like a sore thumb.”
Boy George pointed out: “I think he’s super nervous though,” while Corrie star Sue said: “He must be very nervous…”
The Karma Chameleon singer added: “I could hear it in his voice.”
Later, Charlene spoke to the former health secretary in the lookout – with the MP admitted he was concerned about how he would be received by his fellow camp mates.
He said: “Everybody’s really nice. Nobody’s trying to be spikey are they?” ITV News anchor Charlene asked: “Were you nervous about that?”
The MP replied: “Not really… it was on the worry list.” To which Charlene : “So why did you do it?”
Mr Hancock responded: “Because there’s – honest truth is – because there’s so few ways in which politicians can show that we’re human beings, so I just thought it would be good to do that. I’ve got a sense of adventure.”
Charlene asked: “So you kind of want people to see you for you?” To which the former health secretary admitted: “I hope so.”
Loose Women star Charlene later shared her verdict in the Bush Telegraph as she said: “Matt has a tough hill to climb, but he's put himself on that hill and for me as a journalist, I have to ask him why.“
Mr Hancock later revealed hopes to show another side to him as he told Charlene: “If I can use this to sort of peel myself back a bit and just be me, it’s better.”
But, Charlene wasn't shy to hold him accountable as she replied: “But I can imagine it would not have gone down well at all at home? You have to expect that. Because Parliament is still sitting, we’re not in recess, you know…”
The MP replied said: “I genuinely think that because we’ve now got sort of stability that is…”
Charlene stated: “We’ve had stability for all of five minutes Matt.” To which he replied: “Rishi’s great, he’ll be fine.”
Refusing to leave her question unanswered, the journalist responded: “But you can understand if people aren’t very happy at home about it?”
“I understand that,” the MP said. ”But I also.. of course I get that, right. But I also just think that sometimes you’ve got to do things differently.”
To which Charlene pointed out: “I’m not sure going on I’m A Celebrity is the way to do it but you’re doing you and it’s a decision you’ve made and honestly it will be fascinating just to see.”
Matt said: “Do things a bit differently, eh?”
Charlene was then seen in the Bush Telegraph as she said: “Politicians do tend to use that line, ‘I feel as though the public need to know the real me’. I’m not necessarily sure a reality TV show is the way to do that.”
After her chat with the MP, Boy George and Chris Moyles asked Charlene how it went, to which she said: “I asked why.”
Radio DJ Chris quizzed: “And the answer was?”
Charlene explained: “Oh, the same reasons politicians give every time they do these kinds of shows… ‘you need to know who we are behind the political mask’ kind of thing.”
The Radio X star said: “He’s taken a few weeks off his job.” To which Charlene said: “I asked that.”
And Chris asked: “And?” Charlene relayed his response as she said: “‘The government’s in a good place’. I was like, Rishi’s only been in five minutes, so how can you know that?”
Chris continued: “What about his constituents?“
Radio DJ Chris and Loose Women star Charlene weren't the only camp mates with a strong reaction to Matt Hancock's arrival in camp as Boy George admitted he could have quit the show.
The pop icon confided in Scarlette Douglas about his mum's battle with Covid.
He said: “You know, beginning of the pandemic my mum was in hospital. I wasn’t allowed to see her. I thought she was going to die.
“I was tweeting Greenwich hospital going, ‘Please look after my mum.’ I used my name, I was like ‘Please look after my mum.’
“And they did, she was fine… I feel like, I don’t want to be sitting here like I’m having fun with him.
“It’s difficult for me because, you know, had something happened, if my mum had gone, I wouldn’t be here now. I would have gone when he walked in.”
Speaking in the Bush Telegraph, Boy George continued: “If I had lost my mum, I would go. And I feel a little bit selfish, you know, just kind of… everyone’s so nice to him and I was like Jesus, what we gonna do?
“I don’t want to spoil this experience for myself. I’m not good at hiding what I feel. Especially when it’s something so strong.”
Earlier in the day when Hancock had first come in, the singer had warned Hancock he was in for a tough time.
Laughing he said: “You’re really going to get it. You’re really going to get it. Not from me. I mean just from…”
Earlier in the episode, Mr Hancock had to brave his first trial as he made his gruesome arrival into the jungle.
Hosts Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly were loving every moment, as Hancock dived into a dark tunnel, before being covered in bugs and drenched in slime in his first trial.
Hancock took part in the latest challenge with fellow newcomer Seann Walsh, as both of them made their debuts on the series.
He tackled the challenge with a point to prove. The Beastly Burrows saw both of the contestants entering a dark tunnel, with them having to crawl around to look for stars.
Immediately, worms and other bugs rained down on them and as Hancock travelled through the narrow spaces, he was met with gunge – while hosts Ant and Dec smirked as they watched the trial take place.
As both contestants screamed out every time slime fell on them, Seann ended up shouting at his co-star as he asked which way he wanted him to go.
More and more screams were heard as the task continued - mainly from Seann who wasn't coping very well at all.
