Kate Garraway: tearful GMB broadcaster confronts Matt Hancock over I’m A Celeb and breaking Covid-19 rules

Kate Garraway asks Matt Hancock to explain his decision to go into the jungle when people were still angry with him as the Health Secretary.
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Good Morning Britain (GMB) presenter Kate Garraway fought back her tears as she confronted former health secretary Matt Hancock over his decision to appear on ITV’s reality series ‘I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!’ last year - a decision that angered large swathes of the public.

Joining fellow presenters Susanna Reid and Richard Medeley on Tuesday’s live show (January 31) to discuss his controversial TV appearance and his book, Pandemic Diaries, Garraway, whose husband, Derek is still struggling to overcome health problems after contracting Covid, explained why people were still ‘cross’ with Hancock.

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Hancock resigned as health secretary in June 2021, after the pictures of him kissing his aide, Gina Coladangelo inside the Department of Health were leaked to a major newspaper, clearly violating social distancing guidelines.

Garraway said: “You know when you talk about the moment that you fell in love and was seen, well caught, falling in love and whether it was stylised and legal. And you say that’s irrelevant what it was in the sense because you morally feel that you did wrong.

“I suppose the problem is that because you were Health Secretary and because of that time, I couldn’t visit Derek in hospital, he couldn’t see his kids. Thousands of others couldn’t go and see the people they love for various reasons because they were following the guidelines.

“You have to understand that it was all very muddled at that point for us out here in the world. It gives the impression that you still don’t get why we’re cross. You see what I mean, you still don’t see why people are upset because that amount of money is vast to everybody.

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"And I am sure there are many other people that went into the jungle when you did that, maybe got more, maybe got less, I don’t know. But they are holding you to more account because you are probably only there because you were Health Secretary at the time making these huge decisions.

“You made the decision to go in at a time before you’d answer the inquiry, at a time when people were still feeling  very raw. Can you explain now because I’m not sure people are yet comfortable with why you did it.”

Hancock then explained that he understood the people’s sentiments, adding: “The reason that I think why I wrote the book in particular with the inquiry coming later I have to be completely open about what I did and why I took the decision so we could learn as much as possible. I feel really strongly about that.”

He added: “One of the things, if I can contribute anything now to the future of making sure that this doesn’t happen as badly again, is making sure we really, really learn the lessons about how to handle these things because there will be another one and I feel very strongly about that because I feel like it is my duty - because we’re all human, we all make mistakes.”

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Hancock also admitted he received £320,000 for his television appearance on I’m a Celebrity, but reportedly only donated £10,000 to charity. He however insisted that the fee was not his “primary” motivation but to communicate with people about who “I am as a person.”

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