Kate Garraway confronts Matt Hancock in tearful GMB interview over I’m a Celeb and Covid-19 rules

Kate Garraway confronted disgraced MP Matt Hancock over his appearance on I’m A Celebrity, as well as breaking Covid-19 rules that he put in place as Health Secretary during the pandemic.

Hancock has been under intense scrutiny since he first took charge of the coronavirus pandemic, during which he implemented and broke social distancing rules. Hancock eventually resigned as health secretary in June 2021, a month after the pictures of him kissing his aide, Gina Coladangelo inside the Department of Health were leaked to a major newspaper, clearly violating social distancing guidelines.

During the interview Hancock confirmed he received £320,000 for his appearance on I’m a Celebrity, but donated only £10,000 to charity. He also added that money was not the ‘primary’ motivation for his appearance, but wanted people to see who he is ‘as a person’.  The appearance was one of two reality show stints as he also took part in SAS: Who Dares Wins, of which he also received a hefty £45,000 paycheck.

Kate Garraway held back tears as she confronted the former health secretary over his decision to enter the jungle. Garraway said: "You know when you talk about the moment that you fell in love and was seen, well caught, falling in love and whether it was stylised and legal. And you say that’s irrelevant what it was in the sense because you morally feel that you did wrong.

"I suppose the problem is that because you were Health Secretary and because of that time, I couldn’t visit Derek in hospital, he couldn’t see his kids. Thousands of others couldn’t go and see the people they love for various reasons because they were following the guidelines.

"You have to understand that it was all very muddled at that point for us out here in the world. It gives the impression that you still don’t get why we’re cross. You see what I mean, you still don’t see why people are upset because that amount of money is vast to everybody.

"And I am sure there are many other people that went into the jungle when you did that, maybe got more, maybe got less, I don’t know. But they are holding you to more account because you are probably only there because you were Health Secretary at the time making these huge decisions.

"You made the decision to go in at a time before you’d answer the inquiry, at a time when people were still feeling very raw. Can you explain now because I’m not sure people are yet comfortable with why you did it."

Hancock responded to Garraway explaining that he understood the people’s sentiments, adding: "The reason that I think why I wrote the book in particular with the inquiry coming later I have to be completely open about what I did and why I took the decision so we could learn as much as possible. I feel really strongly about that."

He added: "One of the things, if I can contribute anything now to the future of making sure that this doesn’t happen as badly again, is making sure we really, really learn the lessons about how to handle these things because there will be another one and I feel very strongly about that because I feel like it is my duty - because we’re all human, we all make mistakes."

Kate isn’t the first person to confront the disgraced MP about his behaviour. As Hancock entered the jungle to start his controversial stint on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Outta Here! last year, contestant and journalist Charlene White confronted him.

As Hancock entered the camp multiple campmates grilled the disgraced former Health Secretary for his behaviour. They also questioned his reason for coming on the show. During the grilling about whether or not Hancock broke the law, which he denied,  Charlene said: "You were socialising with someone outside of your household," with him replying: "I didn’t break any laws. Guidance is different."

As the conversation continued, Charlene brought up her personal experience telling Hancock: "It’s massively bigger than that. My aunt died from Covid in the first wave. So, we couldn’t go to the hospital to go and visit her."

She added: "I had to sit by myself in the church at her funeral. We couldn’t hug each other because we were following guidance. And I get that you fell in love, I understand all of those things, but sorry for a lot of families like mine doesn’t really cut it."

He replied: "Yeah. Well, there you go. That’s one of the reasons that I regret it as much as I do."

Charlene continued the conversation asking: "Do you have regret regarding the way that as Health Minister you dealt with the pandemic as a whole?" The MP said: "So the pandemic as a whole no, I’m much, much more robust in my defence of it."