I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here winner Jill Scott has shared her reaction as she was quizzed on how much she was paid to take part in the show. It comes after Matt Hancock's eye-watering fee was revealed.
The former health secretary's appearance in the hit ITV reality show ruffled plenty of feathers even before he stepped foot in the jungle. The Tory MP came under fire, as did ITV, for his appearance and last month it was revealed that the second most complained about TV event of the year was Matt's inclusion in I'm A Celeb's 2022 line-up.
It prompted 1,890 complaints between November 6 and 27. But despite Matt, 44, facing questions from his fellow campmates about his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his reasons for going into the Australian jungle, he made it to the final where he finished in third place behind Hollyoaks actor Owen Warner and former Lioness, and now Queen of the Jungle, Jill.
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But now, two months after the final aired on ITV with Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly at the helm, it has has been revealed that Matt was paid £320,000 for his controversial appearance. Records on the MP’s register showed that on December 14 2022, the West Suffolk MP received £320,000 from Lifted Entertainment, ITV Studios, for the appearance, which lasted 30 days – a total of 720 hours.
A spokesperson did add that Matt had "donated £10,000 to St Nicholas Hospice in Suffolk and the British Dyslexia Association, off the back of his appearance on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!"
Appearing on Good Morning Britain on Friday (January 27), Jill was live in the studio where she was tasked with making hosts Adil Ray and Kate Garraway a coffee due to her owning coffee shop, BOXX2BOXX, in Northenden, Wythenshawe. She was also quizzed on whether she's still in touch with any of her former campmates as well as her upcoming projects.
But Kate, who starred in I'm A Celeb in 2019, encouraged Jill to partake in a game of 'higher or lower' as she asked the former footballer: "It's emerged that Matt Hancock was paid more than £320,000, higher or lower for you?" Kate asked.
Jill then replied: "A lot lower." She then quipped with a slighly awkward smile: "I could have opened a new coffee shop with that much." Moving away from the money, Jill shared what she really wants from the fame that has come from her win. "I want to help," she said. "I feel like my journey with the Euros, getting that gold medal, my journey's done so I want to give back to the next generation and get back on the grass."
Jill was also quizzed on the campmates’ WhatsApp group after Scarlette Douglas claimed she was blanked by her new friends after trying to check in on the group, and Jill appeared surprised to hear that Matt may not actually be part of it. "We do have a WhatsApp group actually, so we’re all in there," she said, before Kate suggesting Matt might not be involved in the group action.
"Is he actually not in?" Jill asked. "Oh, okay! I’ll check when I get off here, but I thought he was! But yeah, if there’s an event coming up like a birthday – I feel like I’ve just given a political answer there. I learned something from the jungle," she added. She also shared how she was still in regular contact with runner-up Owen, with the pair heading to watching Manchester City and Arsenal's FA Cup fourth round clash on Friday night.
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