Matt Hancock has faced his second Bushtucker Trial in as many days after being chosen by the public vote.
Viewers had already watched the former Health Secretary, 44, get pelted with slime and cockroaches while labouring to win a paltry six out of eleven stars for camp during his jungle debut the night before.
Now, he can be seen taking part in an underwater challenge called Tentacles of Terror in a preview for Thursday night’s episode.
In the clip, hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly watch on as Hancock is tank of water while flounders as he tries to salvage stars from a variety of submerged, critter-filled cages.
“Yes, good going!” encourages Dec at one point, who then advises the one-time Tory Whip that on his next turn, “your air hole gets smaller”.
“What did you call him?” asks a shocked Ant, to which Dec quikly clarifies “air hole”.
Hancock along with comedian Seann Walsh were “surprise” late additions to the jungle camp.
Some of the camp mates expressed strong opinions after Hancock arrived during Wednesday’s episode.
Among them was radio DJ Chris Moyles, who paid a visit to the Bush Telegraph and said: “Oh my god, two new people have arrived.
“One of them is Seann Walsh and the other one - I’ve got to go back and double check.”
Also speaking in the Bush Telegraph, soap star Sue Cleaver added: “I don’t know what to say.”
Ant and Dec took Hancock’s arrival as an opportunity to poke fun at UK politics and jokingly addressed the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
“I’m not sure how Matt is going to cope in camp though,” Ant said.
“You know, surrounded by people who don’t know what they’re doing, making it up as they go along and just trying to get by day to day.”
To which Dec jokingly added: “Evening, Prime Minister.”
The jibe comes after the presenting duo also poked fun at former prime minister Boris Johnson during last year’s series.
Dec went on to make fun of the Conservative Party’s recent leadership changes, adding: “By the way, who am I talking to there? Who is it this week? Is it still Rishi? Is it still him?”
To which Ant replied: “I think so, but they’re probably due a new one before Christmas.”The campmates soon began to banter with Hancock and quizzed him over both his political decisions and his motivation for taking part in the show.
Referencing Hancock’s role in televised press conferences during the coronavirus pandemic, Moyles, 48, asked: “You’ve got to get it out of the way for me, please just say, ‘Next slide please’, and I’m really happy.”
After Hancock willingly said: “Next slide please”, Culture Club frontman Boy George told him: “You’re really going to get it. You’re really going to get it. Not from me, I mean, just from...”
TV presenter and property expert Scarlette Douglas also appeared interested in Hancock, asking him: “Why did you decide to come in?”
He replied: “Why? Because, all politicians are known - and me in particular - for being in a very sort of strict way of being, which is just not actually how we are.”
Douglas, 35, then asked: “How would you say you were?”“More human than that,” Hancock replied. When Cleaver, 59, told Hancock he was “a brave man”, he said: “Well, we’ll see how it goes.”
Douglas added: “I’m looking forward to getting to know you outside of everything else. That’s going to be good. Just be your authentic self.”
In the Bush Telegraph Douglas appeared open to getting to know the MP, saying: “To be fair, everyone’s human. We all have our own personalities outside what we are seen in the media.
“So listen, Matt Hancock has come on, he obviously has something to prove, so hey, everyone’s got their own reasons as to why they’re here.”
Elsewhere in Wednesday’s episode, Hancock and Walsh discovered they would be undercover moles in the main camp and were given a series of secret missions to undertake to earn the campmates their luxury items.
Called into Mole HQ - a separate secret camp where Hancock and Walsh started their jungle experience - the pair were told they must steal someone’s hat and gilet and bring them back to Mole HQ, call Moyles “Greg” on three separate occasions, and convince the camp that one of them is a keen bird-watcher by re-creating the calls of fictional Australian birds.
After receiving their missions, Hancock and Walsh were told: “Good luck and remember what goes underground stays underground.”
