Former I'm A Celebrity star Sue Cleaver says it's 'complicated' having politicians in jungle

The actor shared the camp with Matt Hancock last year

Sue Cleaver was a camper last year. (Getty Images)
Sue Cleaver was a camper last year. (Getty Images)

What did you miss?

Former I’m A Celebrity star Sue Cleaver has said it’s “complicated” having politicians in the jungle.

The Coronation Street actor was a camper last year alongside former health secretary Matt Hancock, who was slated for doing the contest as an elected MP while Parliament was sitting, and faced accusations of insensitivity to those who lost people during the coronavirus pandemic.

This year former UKIP leader Nigel Farage is among the line-up, which has also sparked debate, with campaign group Best for Britain encouraging people to boycott the ITV show.


What, how, and why?

Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Cleaver said adding politicians to the group could be tricky.

Sue Cleaver was in the jungle with Matt Hancock. (ITV screengrab)
Sue Cleaver was in the jungle with Matt Hancock. (ITV screengrab)

“I understand why they do it, I mean, it’s great for the audience isn’t it?” she said.

“But it can put you in quite a difficult position.

"Do you address certain things or do you not? If you don’t you are damned, if you do you are damned.

“It’s complicated.”

However, she said she believed her group “did a good job”, and noted that they had Loose Women star and journalist Charlene White on hand to do a little probing.

“We had a newsreader on there so she asked the questions that needed to be asked,” she said.

Matt Hancock was in the jungle last year. (ITV)
Matt Hancock was in the jungle last year. (ITV)

What else did Sue Cleaver say?

However, Cleaver also said that eating was the most important thing on I’m A Celebrity, where contestants have a basic diet of rice and beans unless they win stars in trials that they can then swap for food.

“When you are in there honestly your main focus is just about eating and getting stars… pulling together as a team and that’s so important,” she said.

“And when that was done I think we were quite a grown-up group.”

Nigel Farage has signed up for the reality show. (ITV)
Nigel Farage has signed up for the reality show. (ITV)

Asked if she thought it would be easier in camp with Farage than Hancock, she said: “I’d like to think that I would rise to the challenge!

“And, as I’ve said, it is about just eating and working together as a team.

“And it’s good for us to leave all our prejudice and opinions aside and concentrate on the task.”

The new series starts at 9pm on ITV on 19 November.


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