‘You were grabbing booty’: Babatunde Aleshe calls out Matt Hancock over Covid scandal

Matt Hancock has said there is ‘no excuse’ for his actions during the pandemic but that he ‘fell in love’.The former health secretary made his controversial debut on I’m a Celebrity on Wednesday (9 November). His arrival was met with tears from fellow campmate Boy George.Hancock discussed his controversial past in politics with fellow campmate Babatunde Aleshe.As former health secretary, Hancock was one of the faces plastered all over the newspapers during the pandemic.He was criticised over elements of the government’s response to Covid, and in June 2021, found himself publicly disgraced after admitting to violating his own social distancing rules when his affair with aide Gina Coladangelo was exposed.Asked ‘how have things been’ by Aleshe, Hancock replied: ‘It was really tough.’Aleshe said: ‘Because you messed up,’ to which the politician said: ‘I messed up and I fessed up. I resigned and it’s no excuse but I fell in love, right? That also had a lot of other consequences obviously.’The comedian then joked: ‘You didn’t just ‘fell in love’ you were grabbing booty bruv!’Matt Hancock is taking part in the new series of I’m a CelebHancock responded: ‘Oh give over,’ causing Aleshe to laugh and apologise.He said that things had been ‘hard’, adding that: ‘I obviously brought it on myself, so yeah… it’s been tough.’Hancock went on to say that he is ‘very much’ still together with Coladangelo, stating that the best thing about being kicked out of the series would be getting the chance to see her.Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has suggested ‘quite a lot of people’ in the House of Commons and House of Lords have downloaded ‘a certain app’ so they can vote for Matt Hancock to do trials on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! (Matt Dunham/PA)Aleshe concluded the conversation by telling Hancock: ‘Look man, I don’t judge you bruv. I may take the piss out of you.’Hancock’s arrival has ruffled feathers, even bringing Boy George to tears.Earlier in the episode, Scarlette Douglas told the politician that his actions were ‘a slap in the face’ to the people of the UK.You can follow along with live updates from the episode here.