Tim Farron revealed he turned down appearing on reality TV shows as he criticised Matt Hancock’s decision to go into the jungle for I’m A Celebrity…..Get Me Out Of Here!
Mr Farron, who represents Westmorland and Lonsdale and is a former Liberal Democrat leader, said he had been approached to join Dancing on Ice and The Island with Bear Grylls.
He said the TV appearances would have been great fun but that his job was to serve his constituents and not swan off for weeks on end doing reality TV.
Mr Farron has joined the growing ranks of critics of former health secretary Mr Hancock, who resigned from cabinet last year after being caught on camera breaching lockdown rules by kissing a colleague.
Mr Farron said Conservative MP Mr Hancock was ‘shamelessly’ attempting to win back favour with the public by choosing to appear on I’m A Celebrity…
“He is deserting his constituents at a time when they need their MP to be fighting for them during this cost of living crisis,” he said.
Simon Fell, Conservative MP for Barrow and Furness, was also critical, describing Mr Hancock’s scheduled reality TV appearance as a very silly decision.
“I can’t say that I’m a fan of I’m A Celebrity, and I won’t be watching just because Matt is on,” said Mr Fell. “We are elected to serve our constituents, not to fly to Australia to go on TV in parliamentary time to eat bugs.”
Mr Hancock was suspended as a Tory MP for his decision to appear on the ITV show, which sees famous faces compete in trials in the Australian jungle to win food for campmates. He is not the first sitting MP to appear on the programme, however. In 2012, Nadine Dorries also had the whip suspended after choosing to enter the I’m A Celeb camp.
The first episode of the show will air on Sunday.
