Matt Hancock: The former health secretary addresses breaking lockdown rules for 'love' on Celebs SAS

Disgraced former health secretary Matt Hancock is back in the limelight. After appearing on I’m a Celeb, Get Me Out of Here last year, Hancock is back on TV, this time for Channel 4’s Celebs SAS: Who Dares Win.

On the show, which stars ‘celebrities who think they have what it takes to pass the SAS selection’ Hancock will be ‘pushed to (his) limit, and beyond, by an elite team of ex-special forces operators from the UK and USA.’ Entertainment guaranteed.

In the first episode which aired on Channel 4 on 26 September, the former politician opens up about his regrets and what led him to resign from the government.

Matt Hancock’s reality TV journey

Since quitting the government in 2021, Hancock has enjoyed keeping away from the political world. Indeed, many remember his appearance on I’m a Celeb, Get Me Out of Here, especially when he proceeded to drink ‘a glass of liquidised meal worms’.

Not only a TV star, Hancock has also taken to TikTok where the former minister now has 230,000 followers and over 2 million likes. On his profile, Matt Hancock is… versatile. His videos range from talking about his favourite chocolate bar to talking about climate change. However, in August, he made headlines when he decided to lip sync the viral Barbie song I’m Just Ken.

The Guardian’s Stuart Heritage asks a very relevant question: why is Matt Hancock doing all this? He points out:

Former cabinet ministers, even ones as dire as Hancock, could walk into any number of cushy jobs

Concluding with:

He is a man with a palpable desire for public approval. He wants to show that he can endure endless humiliation because he thinks there will be a tipping point where people start to cut him some slack.

Heritage however highlights one thing:

Hancock is TV gold. He is the big hire who will get eyeballs trained on a tired old format again. You are watching it because he is on it.

Matt Hancock’s regrets

The first episode of Celebs SAS: Who Dares Win aired 26 September and while the format of the show remains the same, people get hit in the face and thrown in a lake, one Matt Hancock moment has caught our attention.

In the episode, Hancock is questioned by one of the SAS soldiers and the latter decides to grill Hancock on the scandal that led to his resignation from the government. To remind you, Hancock was caught on CCTV breaking lockdown guidance and cheating on his now ex-wife.

To those questions Hancock responded:

I was managing a very difficult situation in a professional sense, I thought I'd done a pretty good job.

And then I fell in love with somebody. Someone who I was at uni with and worked closely with in the pandemic, and I had to resign from government.

Hancock’s interrogation didn’t stop there. The former member of the government was pushed by the SAS soldier on why he thought he could break the Covid guidance he had himself put in place.

Hancock defended himself saying:

The truth is I was very careful not to break any of the laws. The guidance wasn't legally binding at that point. But it was guidance.

But he also expressed regret:

I regret lack of leadership at the end (...) I have self doubt about things that I have done.

Read more:

⋙ Matt Hancock denies trying to hire agent to become TV personality despite ‘many offers’

⋙ I’m A Celeb: Fans slam Matt Hancock for his ‘stupid’ decision

⋙ Rishi Sunak: This is where the Prime Minister went to school and how much it cost

Sources:

The Guardian: Get Matt Hancock off our screens! He’s back on reality TV – and enough is enough

Yahoo News: Celebrity SAS: Matt Hancock admits he regrets breaking COVID rules

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