Matt Hancock won't be able to wipe the grin off his face when he is reunited with his girlfriend Gina Coladangelo on I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!
The couple are set to see one another again on the bridge in the Australian jungle once MP, 44, finally bids goodbye to camp after surprising everyone with his jungle appearance.
Mr Hancock's stint on the ITV show lasted much longer than many expected, with Liam Gallagher even sharing his surprise that the disgraced MP outlasted Babatúndé Aléshé.
In a shocking twist, Mr Hancock has managed to get to the final alongside the likes of Jill Scott and Owen Warner.
Liam tweeted: "F**k off love Babatunde can’t live in a world where T**t Hancock still pulling the wool". Meanwhile, viewers called for an official investigation into how Mr Hancock has survived so many eviction votes.
Despite the confusion over the MP's lengthy jungle stint, Gina shared her support for the former Health Secretary.
As the mum-of-three landed Down Under ahead of her reunion with her boyfriend, she said she was "impressed" by his resilience while facing his fears on the show.
Gina told the Mirror: "I have been watching the show. It would be difficult not to be impressed he has done really well."
And as she was asked about Mr Hancock completing a string of Bushtucker trials, she said: "He is made of tough stuff. It is hard not to be impressed."
Gina added: "But it is good they are sharing them round now."
During his time in camp, Mr Hancock, who was slammed for abandoning his constituency to head into the jungle, faced a number of Bushtucker trials and even had a confrontation with Boy George, who called him "slimy".
In a heated moment, the Karma Chameleon singer told the father-of-three: "I’ll be honest with you, I think your presence has made everyone very compliant."
In camp, the disgraced politician was quizzed about his affair with Gina – which was exposed when a video of the pair embracing was leaked in June 2021.
The CCTV footage was taken at a time when physical contact with anyone outside your household would be considered a breach of Mr Hancock's own lockdown rules.
Babatúndé poked fun at the MP for "grabbing booty" while Mr Hancock was later confronted by Charlene White over his lockdown rule break – which he claimed happened because he 'fell in love'.
In the jungle, Mr Hancock said: "It's obviously been really tough. I messed up and I fessed up. I resigned it's no excuse but I fell in love, right?
"That also had a lot of other consequences as well".
Gina and the MP have known one another for years before things became romantic. They met at Oxford University while volunteering at a student radio station.
Speaking to Steve Bartlett about their relationship, the MP explained: "I’ve known Gina for more than half of my life and we first actually worked together on student radio back in the Oxford days. So, we spent a lot of time together, ironically, trying to get me to be able to communicate in a more emotionally intelligent way."
Before she was Matt Hancock’s aide, Gina was a marketing and communications director at Oliver Bonas – and was married to the brand’s founder, Oliver Tress.
She was later brought into government as a communications expert for the Department of Health.
Gina quickly came under public scrutiny when she was caught in a passionate embrace with Mr Hancock in Whitehall while a ban on mixing households was in place.
After their affair was made public, Gina reportedly left her husband Oliver.
Mr Hancock resigned after the scandal, saying: "I resigned because I broke the social distancing guidelines.
"They were the guidelines that I’d been proposing. And that happened because I fell in love with somebody… we fell in love. And that's something that was completely outside of my control."
He then added: "I accept that I breached the social distancing guidance in these circumstances.
"I have let people down and am very sorry.
"I remain focused on working to get the country out of this pandemic, and would be grateful for privacy for my family on this personal matter."
The UK Covid-19 Inquiry was subsequently set up to examine the UK’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic - and learn lessons for the future.
Mr Hancock, meanwhile, has written a book called the Pandemic Diaries, which is published on Dec 6 2022.
