Kate Garraway has shared her feelings on Matt Hancock entering I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here. The presenter was back on Good Morning Britain on Thursday (November 10) to bring viewers the latest news headlines alongside Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard.
One of the hot topics of conversation on the latest edition of the ITV news programme was the former health secretary's jungle debut on the ITV reality show which was broadcast on Wednesday night (November 9). There has been controversy about 44-year-old Matt's appearance on the hit programme.
The arrival of the Conservative MP for West Suffolk, who has been suspended from the Tory part for taking part in the popular ITV reality show, unsurprisingly sent shockwaves through the group as he made his way into the main camp alongside comedian Seann Walsh.
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After the newcomers took part in their first Bushtucker Trial, named Beastly Burrows, it wasn’t long before Matt, who was health secretary during the coronavirus pandemic, was quizzed by the celebs and an upset Boy George even threatened to quit the camp as he struggled with his emotions.
Kate, who was personally affected during the pandemic after her husband, Derek Draper, became critically ill after contracting coronavirus in March 2020 and is still facing the serious and devasting consequences today, was asked by Susanna how she would have reacted to Matt's entry into the jungle if she was a campmate, as she was in 2019, and given the impact Covid has had on her life.
"I think instinctively, me personally, would want to talk to him and ask him questions about it to try to get to the bottom of how he really felt about it," the 55-year-old said. "I think there's a very visceral gut reaction to Matt Hancock as he's a very famous face of a time that's been miserable for the entire country and we're still living with the consequences of it.
"There will be people watching whose grief is still very raw from losing people and they won't see that rawness of grief and sadness in the way Matt Hancock is behaving on screen." Kate also said Matt needs to show he feels ‘a sense of the pain’ the pandemic caused.
"I think there’s a tendency, because it’s such an odd situation at the very least, everybody’s out of their comfort zone, that horrible cliche, there is a sense, I think, where you want to let people be open and be what they are right in front of you and not be judged, and that’s one of the lovely things about that show."
Kate went on: "You see revelations of personality and things coming out – you see that as a campmate and as a viewer, which is fantastic. The challenge is, you’re going to see him laughing and being human and being the personable person that I’m sure he is to his family and friends, and that feels uncomfortable, I think, for so many people when there’s still so much unanswered, actually.
"Seeing him in there with the inquiries and investigations still going on – I think the only thing he can do to help those people is to, at some point, show he has a real sense of the pain. At the moment, what we’ve seen is not that, because it’s not that context."
At another point in the programme, Susanna said: "A lot of people are feeling conflicted about laughing along with Matt Hancock in I’m a Celeb. I think those who lost family or friends, or those who saw government ministers not following the rules during lockdown, will be thinking it is not right to try and rebuild your image through a light entertainment show."
Kate then said: "When you are in there you are so far out of your comfort zone, and you don’t want to prejudge people. We are seeing him laughing and being himself, and that feels uncomfortable when there is still so much unanswered. Seeing him there with all the investigations going on is uncomfortable."
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