Matt Hancock reveals why he’s decided to go on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!
Former health secretary Matt Hancock has said his decision to enter the I’m A Celebrity jungle was driven by a need to “deliver important messages to the masses”.
Mr Hancock has revealed he will be jetting off to the jungle in Australia to appear as a contestant on the popular ITV reality show.
His decision has meant his whip has been removed – effectively expelling him from the Conservative parliamentary party and forcing him to sit as an independent until it is reinstated.
Pic: AP
But he is unbowed, telling The Sun newspaper: “It’s our job as politicians to go to where the people are – not to sit in ivory towers in Westminster.”
The MP, who has been widely mocked on social media and by some colleagues for the move, said producers had asked him twice over the summer if he would appear, but he turned them down.
When, he said, the government was more stable following Liz Truss‘s short-lived stint as PM, he was asked again, and agreed.
He told the paper’s readers: “The truth is, I haven’t lost my marbles or had one too many pina coladas.
“Like you, politicians are human, with hopes and fears, and normal emotions just like everyone else.
“Where better to show the human side of those who make these decisions than with the most watched programme on TV?
“There are those who got their news from brilliant shows like This Morning, Loose Women and Gogglebox. It’s popular TV shows like these – and I’m A Celebrity … of course – that help to deliver important messages to the masses.
“Rather than looking down on reality TV, we should see it for what it is – a powerful tool to get our message heard by younger generations.
“Reality TV is a very different way to communicate with the electorate – it’s both honest and unfiltered.”
Ant and Dec are back hosting the show that has been make or break for a number of celebrities. Pic: ITV
Mr Hancock said that, as someone who had struggled at school with undiagnosed dyslexia, he would be using the platform to widen education about the condition – and would make a donation from his to causes supporting dyslexia and to St Nicholas Hospice in his constituency of Suffolk.
“I want to raise the profile of my dyslexia campaign to help every dyslexic child unleash their potential – even if it means taking an unusual route to get there … via the Australian jungle!
“I’m A Celebrity … is watched by millions of Brits up and down the country.
“I want to use this incredible platform to raise awareness, so no child leaves primary school not knowing if they have dyslexia.”
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‘Now he’s absconding as an MP’
Rivka Gottlieb, from the COVID-19 Bereaved Families For Justice group, was not ready to forgive the former health secretary for his handling of the pandemic.
Mr Hancock stepped down after breaching lockdown rules by conducting an affair in his ministerial office with aide Gina Coladangelo.
Ms Gottlieb criticised his decision to appear on the show as “some kind of popularity quest” and of being “not interested in making any amends for the devastation he caused to tens of thousands of families”.
She told Sky News: “He made catastrophic mistake after catastrophic mistake. He has presided over one of the worst death tolls in the COVID pandemic.
“He’s been an absolutely appalling health minister, and now he’s going to abscond from his job as an MP to go off and play in the jungle and self promote.”
Mr Hancock is the bookies’ favourite to do the most bushtucker trials, though his odds to win the competition are significantly slimmer.
The politician will appear alongside pop icon Boy George and ex-rugby player Mike Tindall, who is married to the King’s niece Zara Tindall.
In Mr Hancock’s constituency, Andy Drummond, the deputy chairman of West Suffolk Conservative Association, told the PA news agency: “I’m looking forward to him eating a kangaroo’s penis. Quote me. You can quote me on that.”
Saoirse Ronan has become one of the Academy Awards’ anomalies after being nominated four times without taking home a statuette.
The American-born Irish star received her first Oscars nod at the age of just 13, when she featured in the best supporting actress category for her role in Atonement.
Since then, despite being shortlisted three times for best actress for Brooklyn, Lady Bird and Little Women, she has never won.
Now, the 30-year-old is set to compete in both the lead and supporting actress categories at the 2025 awards for her new films The Outrun and Steve McQueen’s Blitz.
Saoirse Ronan stars in The Outrun. Pic: StudioCanal UK
If she secures one or both nominations, she would become the youngest actor to receive five, or six, nods.
Directed by Nora Fingscheidt, The Outrun, which is inspired by the life of writer Amy Liptrot, follows a Scottish woman struggling with alcoholism while living in fast-paced London.
In a bid to maintain her sobriety, she returns home to Orkney and finds herself in the process.
“Nora really wanted us to have our input in terms of who these characters were and situations that we would find them in”, Ronan told Sky News.
“We had a script that was written and the structure of it was there, but we were sort of able to fill in the gaps a little bit.”
The Outrun. Pic: StudioCanal UK
The Scottish drama marks the first time Ronan has worked as a producer on a project and she says she took a lot from the experience.
She said: “There is a lot going on behind the scenes that actors are protected from, and sometimes I think it would be valuable for an actor to know the drama that exists when they’re not around.
“I think it might make people behave a little bit better and to know that it is sort of like a domino effect when there’s one thing that’s out of place, it really will affect everything else by you not getting on to a call at a certain time.”
The Outrun. Pic: StudioCanal UK
She said it gave her a new appreciation for the craft.
“It’s very difficult to get an independent movie made and to try and source the money needed to just even pay people is difficult sometimes.
“So, yes, it’s just having an awareness of and the graft involved and that has definitely made me appreciate the movies that I’m on so much more where I am just an actor and I don’t have to worry about any of that stuff at all.”
The film also stars The Lazarus Project’s Paapa Essiedu as her boyfriend Daynin.
Battling with the person she has become, her character Rona returns to the Orkney Islands to try to reconnect with nature.
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The Oscar nominee said sea swimming at a remote location was therapeutic for the cast and crew.
“We finished [shooting] on Papa Westray, where we had to have a micro crew. There’s 90 inhabitants on the whole island.
“We stayed in people’s homes because there’s no hotels or anything like that. We ate together every night. We walked to work like it was a very stripped back experience in terms of filmmaking.
“And I think that was sort of felt like art imitating life a little bit after all the chaos of the beginning of the shoot. To have that at the end was wonderful.”
The Outrun is in cinemas now.
Pop star Lana Del Rey has married her alligator tour guide partner in Louisiana, according to reports.
The singer, 39, and Jeremy Dufrene, 49, are said to have obtained a marriage licence in Lafourche parish on Monday and had their wedding three days later.
Footage obtained by the Daily Mail appears to show Del Rey, whose real name is Elizabeth Woodridge Grant, wearing a white dress where Mr Dufrene works as a tour guide in Des Allemandes, south of New Orleans.
Del Rey has not commented on the reported wedding.
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She met Mr Dufrene in 2019, posting pictures of her on one of his tours with the caption: “Jeremy lemme be captain at Arthur’s Air Boat Tours x.”
Arthur’s Air Boat Tours gives guided tours through the local swamps, where its website says visitors are likely to see “300 species of birds” and “alligators up close and personal”.
Mr Dufrene’s profile page says he previously worked seven days a week at a chemical plant – when he would “shrimp on vacation days”.
“After a little convincing by his family, he got his captain’s licence and started running tours,” it adds.
“Jeremy’s a great airboat captain and loves interacting with wildlife & customers.”
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The couple were pictured together at Reading and Leeds festival this summer where Del Rey headlined.
She previously dated Scottish singer Barrie-James O’Neill for three years and was last linked to a police officer called Sean Larkin.
Entertainment
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs: Woman accuses rapper of further sexual assault allegations in new lawsuit
Sean “Diddy” Combs was hit with further sexual assault allegations after a woman filed a lawsuit in New York.
In the fresh civil case, the woman – identified by the pseudonym Jane Doe – claims she was repeatedly raped and drugged at the music mogul’s homes and became pregnant after one of the encounters.
It follows a series of similar legal cases brought by women against Combs, 54, who was arrested at a hotel in New York last week on sex trafficking, drug possession and firearms offences.
The latest lawsuit was filed on Friday against Combs, his companies and several associates, and seeks undisclosed damages for physical injuries, severe emotional distress, humiliation, anxiety and other harm.
The woman claims she met Combs abroad in 2020 and that the assaults and harassment continued through to July this year.
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She says she was often coerced and harassed into travelling to Combs’ homes in New York, Los Angeles and Miami and other cities, and during every visit the rapper would make her “perform a show” for him.
In one encounter alleged to have taken place in July 2022, the woman claims she blacked out after being forced to take drugs that included ketamine.
She later allegedly took a pregnancy test and told Combs it was positive. She said an associate of the music producer repeatedly demanded her to get an abortion. The lawsuit states she had a miscarriage.
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Diddy ‘didn’t do these things’ – lawyer
The woman, who is being represented by lawyers Marie Napoli and Joseph Ciaccio, also alleges Combs and his associates tracked her location and monitored her conversations.
She claims Combs discouraged her from working and gave her an “allowance” that he used to control her.
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“No one is above the law. Fame and wealth do not protect Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs from serious allegations of sex trafficking and abuse,” Ms Napoli said in a statement.
Combs has been facing civil allegations including rape, sexual assault, and forced drugging since November 2023.
He has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking but remains jailed, having been denied bail. His attorney said he is innocent and will fight to clear his name.
A lawyer for Combs did not respond to the allegations made in Friday’s lawsuit when contacted by the Associated Press news agency.
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