The executive producer of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! has insisted that show bosses are not "trying to divide camp" by signing Matt Hancock up to take part in the new series.
The former Health Secretary was confirmed earlier this week to be one of this year's contestants in the ITV show, which starts this Sunday, 6 November. The news has already sparked a huge backlash from critics of the MP, with North East families slamming the politician as "morally bankrupt and distasteful".
There has also been talk of how Hancock's fellow I'm A Celebrity stars will react to sharing a camp with him, as others taking part in this year's series including A Place In The Sun's Scarlette Douglas and Loose Women 's Charlene White have both publicly criticised the MP in the past. But the show's boss has said that Hancock was not brought into the mix in an attempt to stir things up among the campmates.
READ MORE: Matt Hancock 'could be exempt' from Bushtucker Trials on I'm A Celebrity due to 'health condition'
Executive producer Olly Nash told ITV News: "We’ve put in loads of politicians over the years, we also put in people who have had very strong views about certain things and sometimes it plays out in camp and sometimes it doesn’t. It’s not a question of trying to divide camp, we have never been a deliberately divisive camp. It’s up to them to come into the camp and it’s up to them if they want to leave."
Hancock had the Tory whip suspended after news emerged of him heading into the jungle. A political ally of the West Suffolk MP said that he had seized an "incredible opportunity" because he "doesn’t expect to serve in Government again".
Speaking to The Sun about his decision to join the show, the 46-year-old described it as "a great opportunity to talk directly to people who aren't always interested in politics". He also spoke of showing his "human side" on the programme and insisted that it "wasn't the cheque" that finally convinced him to head into the jungle after being approached for the series twice before.
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