Matt Hancock has been pictured back in the UK for the first time as he arrives to face the music after his controversial stint on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!
The former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care was all smiles as he was captured on camera arriving at the Houses of Parliament on Friday morning.
The disgraced MP came third in I'm A Celebrity - which attracted 3,727 complaints to Ofcom during its time on air this year.
The final week of the ITV series saw viewers contact the communications regulator regarding their concerns about the show, with Matt Hancock's trial involving animals making up the bulk of the complaints.
Mr Hancock, 44, was believed to have flown home on Tuesday and arrived back in London on Wednesday ahead of crunch meetings with Tory chiefs.
He will present a bill on dyslexia to the House of Commons on Friday, his representative has said.
However, he might have to do so as an independent after being stripped of the Tory whip after it emerged he would be taking part in the primetime series.
It is unclear whether he will be readmitted. Nadine Dorries eventually had the whip restored after she starred in I’m A Celeb in 2012, but this took around six months.
He had been expected back in England sooner following his reality TV jaunt, but the former Health Secretary opted to leave his girlfriend Gina Coladangelo to fly homo solo while he enjoyed some extra time in Australia.
Gina jetted out of the country on Tuesday with some of Mr Hancock's celebrity campmates, but the independent MP remained Down Under to cash in on his new found fame with a lucrative interview.
Now he has arrived back in England, Mr Hancock will need to clear up several issues regarding his political career.
He will confirm just how much of his I'm A Celebrity appearance fee will be donated to charity, following his team's refusal to confirm the amount to the Mirror.
Tory MPs have been asked by party HQ to indicate by December 5 whether they will be standing for re-election, but whether Mr Hancock’s fate is decided by then remains up in the air.
The former Conservative MP's reality TV adventure was slammed by millions across the country due to multiple reasons, including; the fact he is still a sitting MP (receiving £84,144 annually), his behaviour in government, his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and questions surrounding contracts issued to private companies during Mr Hancock's time as Health Secretary.
But Mr Hancock defended his decision to appear on I'm A Celebrity before and after leaving the jungle, insisting he was camping with the likes of Chris Moyles and Coronation Street actress Sue Cleaver in a bid to raise awareness of dyslexia.
Mr Hancock also signed up for Channel 4 ’s SAS Who Dares Wins - due to screen next year - raising questions about whether he intends to establish himself as a TV star.
Ian Houlder, a Tory councillor in Mr Hancock’s constituency, told The Mirror: "I believe he doesn’t want to be an MP anymore, but he’s got a couple of years to sort out his options.
"If the Tory party don’t let him back in he won’t get anywhere as an independent. If they do let him back in I think there’ll be a lot of people who want to challenge him."
Speaking to Ant and Dec, Matt said: "I wanted to show what I was like as a person. Lots of people come to me with preconceived ideas, for obvious reasons.
"And I just wanted to be myself. But I also actually strongly believe that for politicians as a whole, we don't come across as human enough. And this is probably the most extreme way of just showing who you are, I am someone who throws himself into things.
"And we managed to talk about some important things here."
In June 2021 he was forced to resign as Health secretary after CCTV footage surfaced of him embracing his aide Gina Coladangelo at a time when this would breach his own rules on physical contact. It also ended his 15 year marriage.
He and Gina are now an item and she was there to greet him when he left the show last night after he was crowned king by Ant and Dec.
