Boy George has confessed what his issue was with Matt Hancock during I'm A Celebrity, but hit back at claims he "bullied" the disgraced Tory MP in the jungle.
The singer and his 2022 castmates were not told the former Health Secretary would be joining them ahead of him entering the jungle last month.
Speaking in his first TV interview since leaving Australia, Boy George confessed his shock over Hancock was down to the fact he was not prepared for it, and he "hates surprises".
He also revealed that after his initial frostiness with Hancock, he no longer took issue with him being in camp - but did have a "problem" with his apology to campmates.
On the show, Hancock was seen saying he was sorry over his affair which was exposed last year, as well as the fact he had broken his own Covid rules.
But some of the campmates, including George, did not find the apology genuine - and now the singer has explained why.
Speaking to Lorraine Kelly on Tuesday, George detailed his issue with Hancock's arrival and his apology, while insisting he did not bully the contestant.
George explained: "The thing with the Matt thing was more that I wasn't prepared for it, you know? I don't like surprises, so for me it was a bit like okay, and then I was asked a question about it and it actually brought back a lot of quite painful stuff for me and I was like, wow, wow, wow."
He added: "It's not like me to cry, I am very stone-faced usually. I will cry in private all the time because I think it is good to cry but in that moment, I couldn't help myself.
"What I didn't want is for people watching who have been through some really painful things to think we were all laughing at them, we were all on this TV show laughing and having the time of our lives.
"But then there's another side to it where once I said what I said to Matt, there wasn't any point in picking on him and carrying it on because that's not my job.
"And I didn't want it to ruin my experience of the jungle so you know, anyway he was working hard, he did chip in, he did his best."
George went on: "He had this abrupt manner which rattled everyone so people would say he didn't say please or say thank you, but equally if you say it to him, you say, 'Matt that's the second time you've asked for something and you haven't said please,' he went oh sorry!
"He would take it on board. He isn't a dislikable human being. What he did was wrong, my only problem was the way he apologised.
"It's like you do something wrong, you say I did it wrong and I'm sorry. Don't use the technicality because that's not gonna work. So that's the only thing I thought was a problem."
On the bullying claims, he said: "I was quite surprised when I came out and read that I had bullied Matt, cos I knew for a fact that he would never come out and say I bullied him cos it was the opposite of what I did.
"I said what I wanted to say, then I wanted to enjoy my time in the jungle."
Lorraine airs weekdays at 9am on ITV1 and ITVX.
