I'm A Celebrity's Matt Hancock finally gets round to mentioning dyslexia after two weeks - but viewers are underwhelmed

Matt Hancock has finally got around to talking about dyslexia after two weeks in the jungle, having said it was his reason for doing I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! - but viewers were underwhelmed by his "awareness raising".

The former health secretary and sitting MP had justified taking time away from his constituents and earning a reported £400,000 on the reality TV show by saying he was doing it to raise awareness of dyslexia, which he has been diagnosed with.

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But it had become a running joke amongst viewers of the ITV series that he had failed to mention it even once - until Sunday's episode, when he gave dyslexia a brief mention nearly two weeks after joining the show.

Chatting to comedians Babatunde Aleshe and Seann Walsh about their experiences at school, Hancock said: “I desperately wanted to learn. One side on maths I could, and on English I couldn’t.”

Walsh asked: “Are you talking about reading specifically?”

The former health secretary replied: “Yeah. And then the moment I was identified as dyslexic at university it was ‘Ahh so actually I am okay with language, it’s just my brain works differently and I can work on that’.”

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Ahead of entering the jungle, Hancock said he wanted to use the “incredible platform” to raise awareness of dyslexia and insisted it “wasn’t the cheque” that made him decide to join the show.

But viewers were unimpressed by him finally getting around to talking about it, having previously told campmates he was there looking for "forgiveness".

One viewer tweeted: "He’s finally mentioned dyslexia, briefly. Well worth the £400k and abandoning his constituents."

Someone else added: "The only time in 2 weeks Matt Hancock has actually mentioned Dyslexia, and it’s just to say what we already knew - Matt Hancock has Dyslexia."

Another person wrote: "Matt Hancock was going in #ImACeleb to talk about dyslexia. It’s only taken him 2 weeks to mention it once."

Others mocked him for the passing mention of the reason he'd claimed he was doing the show.

One person tweeted: "And there is it.. the ‘whole point’ he went into the jungle, to raise awareness for dyslexia. Whole 5 seconds of it.."

Someone else wrote: "Well done Matt. You mentioned dyslexia. Your presence is now totally justified."

Another person added: "There's the dyslexia awareness that was teased two weeks ago."

Someone else tweeted: "Two weeks in, Matt Hancock has finally remembered that his excuse for going on to #ImACeleb was his ‘passionate’ desire to talk about dyslexia."

Viewers expressed their outrage at what they saw as Hancock's flimsy reasoning for being in Australia.

One viewer tweeted: "Shame @MattHancock didn’t use his position in parliament to improve NHS waiting lists for SEND diagnosis, currently at over 4 years, instead of ‘raising awareness’ of dyslexia on #ImaCeleb"

Someone else added: "His spokesperson claims he is in the show to 'support dyslexia'. Really? Have I missed something? Because he's been in there for weeks and not heard him mention dyslexia ONCE! #ImACeleb How much is Matt Hancock being paid for I’m a Celebrity 2022?"

I'm A Celebrity continues tonight at 9.15pm on ITV.

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