Ofcom receives 1,100 I'm a Celebrity complaints over Matt Hancock in the jungle
People are so furious about Matt Hancock's appearance in I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here that they've been complaining to Ofcom all week.
The TV watchdog confirmed that, since the ex-Health Secretary entered the jungle, they've received approximately 1,100 complaints about him.
No matter how many cockroaches he eats, Matt just can't get the viewers to warm to him. I can't quite put my finger on why that might be...
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Matt entered the ITV reality series with a bang last week, immediately shooting to the top of every trending list after performing an earnest rendition of Ed Sheeran's single 'Perfect' for fellow contestant Seann Walsh.
From there, things only got worse, with Matt's fellow campmates grilling him on his handling of the covid-19 pandemic at every opportunity, and viewers at home voting him first for almost every Bushtucker trial.
You would think that watching a disgraced health secretary being rejected by his peers and forced to undergo some truly gruesome challenges would be enough to keep viewers at home happy, but according to Ofcom, it's had to opposite effect.
Ofcom noted that of the 1,968 complaints it received this week regarding I'm a Celebrity, about 1,100 of them were about Matt Hancock.
It added that, while many viewers were furious that he had even made it to the jungle in the first place, others had expressed concern about how he is being treated by his campmates.
Commenting on the level of complains surrounding the West Suffolk MP, Ofcom stated: "It’s worth being aware that under our rules, in principle - and taking into account freedom of expression - there's no ban on any particular person taking part in programmes.
"However, if the mere presence of a person is likely to cause offence, we would expect broadcasters to take steps to mitigate or justify that offence. How they do that editorially, is up to them."
Is making Matt take part in gag-worthy challenges a good enough strategy to justify putting him on reality television? It's hard to say. Ask me again after he gets stung by a few more scorpions.
This season of I'm a Celeb won't be the last we see of Hancock, since he revealed he plans to release a book once he's back on home turf.
Speaking to radio DJ Chris Moyles last week about his plans for after the jungle, Matt revealed: “I’ve just finished a book - Pandemic Diaries. Does what it says on the tin.”
Matt described the book as 'totally' warts and all, saying it 'tells the story straight' and describing the situation as one that 'needs telling'.
Topics: Matt Hancock, Im A Celebrity, ITV
Ali Condon