Matt Hancock has said his decision to appear on I’m a Celebrity was motivated by a desire to showcase his “human side” and to use reality TV as a platform to “deliver important messages to the masses”.
Writing in the Sun in defence of his decision, which resulted in him losing the Conservative whip on Tuesday, the former health secretary said that “although some may think I’ve lost my marbles”, he believed that politicians “must wake up and embrace popular culture”.
He wrote: “While there will undoubtedly be those who think I shouldn’t go, I think it’s a great opportunity to talk directly to people who aren’t always interested in politics, even if they care very much about how our country’s run.
“It’s our job as politicians to go to where the people are — not to sit in ivory towers in Westminster.”
Hancock said he had thought “long and hard” about the decision, and that he had already turned down the producers twice over the summer, but had “a change of heart” when he was approached for a third time last week.
He said his confidence that the new prime minister, Rishi Sunak, was leading a stable government had further persuaded him it was an appropriate moment for the reality TV appearance.
On Tuesday night, the Mirror reported that Hancock had landed in Brisbane airport to begin filming the show, which will air its first episode on 6 November.
Hancock’s trip to Australia has been described as a “serious” breach by the chief whip and will mean he is unable to vote in parliament while still able to claim his ?84,144 salary.
In his piece for the Sun, he said he did not expect to serve in government again, but that he could “support Rishi and the government in different ways”. He added that he had spoken to the whips “in the same way any MP would when going on a foreign visit, which happens all the time”.
He said he had agreed with the producers that he would be able to continue to speak to his constituents from the jungle.
Hancock said he planned to use his reality TV appearance to promote the campaigning work on dyslexia, which has been his focus as a backbench MP since resigning as health secretary after he broke Covid rules by having an affair with his aide, which he said “blew up every part of my life”.
He wants the public to understand the need for earlier identification and better support for dyslexia, as a result of his own struggle to obtain a diagnosis, and hopes to increase public support for his dyslexia screening and teacher training bill, which will receive its second reading in parliament a few days after I’m a Celebrity … finishes.
He said: “I want to use this incredible platform to raise awareness, so no child leaves primary school not knowing if they have dyslexia.”
He said he would use pthe roceeds from his appearance to make a donation to St Nicholas Hospice in Suffolk and causes supporting dyslexia, and confirmed that he would declare the amount he received to parliament.
Condemning “patronising” attitudes among MPs to popular culture, he wrote: “While some will say reality TV should be beneath a politician, I think we’ve got to go to where the people gather.”
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