Bereaved families' petition to keep Matt Hancock out of I'm A Celeb hits 40,000 signatures

A petition started by the bereaved families of people who died from Covid-19 asking ITV to remove Matt Hancock from I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here has topped 40,000 signatures.

The petition is titled ‘He’s no celebrity – stop Matt Hancock appearing on I’m a Celebrity’ and it has been started by the COVID Bereaved Families for Justice group, who argue that tens of thousands of people died during the pandemic unnecessarily.

Obviously, Matt Hancock was the Health Secretary during that time, and was the subject of great controversy over issues from the very start, such as delaying the first lockdown until after Cheltenham Festival, the questionable awarding of contracts regarding PPE, and the massively expensive contact tracing system that was broadly unfit for purpose.

Anyway, it then turned out that Hancock had been cheating on his wife with an aide, who was also married – Gina Coladangelo.

That meant that the 44-year-old had to resign as Health Secretary, though he remained as an MP.

Now, he’s had the whip suspended by the Conservative Party after announcing that he was going on the ITV show.

Ian Davidson/Alamy

It has been reported that he’s being paid £400,000 to appear as well, which angers those who lost family members.

The petition states: “Reverse your decision to bring Matt Hancock onto I'm a Celebrity.

His appearance will cause real pain and anguish to those of us who lost loved ones to Covid-19.

“Matt Hancock isn’t a ‘celebrity’, he’s the health secretary who oversaw the UK having one of the highest death tolls in the world from Covid-19 whilst breaking his own lockdown rules.

“The fact that he is trying to cash in on his terrible legacy, rather than showing some humility or seeking to reflect on the appalling consequences of his time in Government says it all about the sort of his person he is.

“Families were ripped apart by Matt Hancock’s actions, and turning on the TV to see him being paraded around as a joke is sickening.

“If he had any respect for families who lost loved ones to Covid-19, he would be sharing his private emails with the Covid Inquiry, not eating bugs on TV.

“Then again, perhaps if those emails came to light no TV station would touch him with a barge pole.”

Hancock will appear on the show, which starts tonight, alongside stars such as Boy George, Chris Moyles, and Olivia Attwood.

However, the petition argues that he should be sacked before he even appears.

PA Images/Alamy

It continues: “ITV should do the decent thing and remove him from the programme.

“Over 200,000 people lost their lives to Covid-19 across the UK.

“Matt Hancock was at the very centre of decisions such as locking down late, allowing large scale sporting events to go ahead as the virus ran rampant and failed to get our healthcare workers the PPE they needed.

“On top of that he was fired after breaking the rules he helped set.

“His profiteering and shameless search for publicity in the run up to his book launch is another insult to already grieving families.”

It is unlikely that ITV will remove Hancock, especially given that it all kicks off tonight.

What does seem likely, however, is that Hancock will be performing his fair share of trials.