Charlene White claims Matt Hancock ruined her 'I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!' experience.
Charlene White was first voted off I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!
The 42-year-old broadcaster - who was the first to be evicted from camp on Friday (18.11.22) - felt she could no longer "have a laugh and a joke" when the former Health Secretary arrived as a late contestant because she feared her "impartiality" would be questioned and she'd ultimately end up losing her job.
Charlene - whose aunt died of COVID-19 - said: "I was shocked when he walked in, but also not shocked.
"Immediately, I was doing the mental arithmetic in my head, and it had stopped at that point for me just being there and having a laugh and a joke – that finished when Matt came. I have interviewed enough of the families that have lost loved ones during the pandemic. I am one of those.
"I spoke to so many families that lost dads, mums, grandads, grandparents. As soon as he walked in, I thought, 'I'm going to be walking a tightrope here.'
"I didn't want anyone to feel like I was being too sympathetic to Matt because that would jeopardise the job that I love and jeopardise my journalistic integrity. It would have shattered the impartiality I've consistently had the past 20 years.
"In my heart I felt if I didn't represent those people who are still grieving and still hurting, if I don't think about them and ask the questions that I want to know regarding his reasoning for going in the jungle… then I'm not doing my job.
"It went from me having a laugh to me constantly worrying about whether or not I could still do my job when I came out."
Charlene admitted that was why she refused to sleep in the RV with Matt when he was camp leader and she was deputy but she admitted she wished she'd been more honest about her reasoning after it caused tension with the other campmates due to a lack of beds.
She said: "I was completely wrong not to have been more explicit about it. Hindsight is a wonderful thing."
Though the 'Loose Women' star feels "an element of relief" to be out of the camp, she's also "genuinely gutted" to have had her stint end so early.
She told MailOnline: "There is an element of relief now I'm out, but I loved being in there and I'm really genuinely gutted to be out because we got into a rhythm.
"I didn't expect that immediate love, bond, and trust that we had pretty much for the very start. It feels weird to be here without them and I do really miss them."