Lembit Opik has defended Matt Hancock’s decision to appear on ‘I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!’
The 57-year-old former politician, who took part in the ITV show in 2010, says the former health secretary’s stint in the jungle may not be “the equivalent of a full-time holiday for anyone” as “most MPs” work seven days a week.
When it was suggested that West Suffolk MP Matt will be on the other side of the world when his constituents need their MP “on their doorstep”, Lembit said: “We can always make those arguments. Boris Johnson was in Barbados recently. We can argue that if someone had a pressing issue in their constituency, they couldn’t have come back very quickly.”
“104 days a year are weekends. Most MPs work seven days a week, so if he condenses them all into, say, 16 days and makes it to the start of the knockout part of the programme, it’s not going to compare to a full-time holiday for anyone.
“I think we have a legitimate outrage here. If this hadn’t been on TV, we wouldn’t be talking about it. If he had gone to Scotland for a quiet fishing holiday, people might even say, ‘That’s a good holiday at home.’
“I think he’s being excluded because we can. That’s obviously why ITV wants him there, he’s just flooding the ratings.”
Lembit lost his seat in Parliament at the 2010 general election, seven months before heading Down Under, but the former Liberal Democrat member admits he would have gone to the jungle anyway.
Asked if he would have taken part in the show had he been a sitting MP, he told Good Morning Britain: “Yeah, I’m not going to hide behind it. I would have gone into that jungle in December 2010 if I hadn’t lost my seat in May.”
“And I would have had no concerns at all. I’m on the side of Nadine Dorries and Matt Hancock.”
Matt – who was suspended from the Conservative Party on Tuesday (01.11.22) after it was revealed he was taking part in the show – is set to enter the jungle as a latecomer alongside comedian Seann Walsh.
The show returns on Sunday (06.11.22) when pop icon Boy George, “Coronation Street” star Sue Cleaver, “Hollyoaks” actor Owen Warner, former England rugby player Mike Tindall, radio presenter Chris Moyles, England Lioness Jill Scott, comedian Babatunde Aleshe, former “Love Island” star Olivia Attwood and TV presenters Charlene White and Scarlette Douglas enter the camp.
