Former health secretary Matt Hancock has talked about the “injustice” he faced after he was accused of “corruption” during the Covid-19 pandemic in the latest episode of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.
In the penultimate episode of the series, airing on Sunday, the former health secretary is made to strip down to his boxers during an interrogation which sees him accused of having an “attitude”.
The 45-year-old had resigned from his position as health secretary in June 2021 after it emerged he had broken his own Covid-19 guidance by kissing and embracing his aide, Gina Coladangelo, in his office.
During Sunday’s Survival episode, Hancock, singer Gareth Gates, English model Danielle Lloyd, Love Island’s Teddy Soares, internet personality Amber Turner and athlete Perri Shakes-Drayton face two final tasks before they are interrogated by a specialist team in the resistance to interrogation phase of the course.
Early in the episode, Hancock is interviewed by Jason “Foxy” Fox and Chris Oliver about the Covid-19 pandemic.
Asked about his vilification, Fox says: “Going back to the pandemic, you pretty much are in the limelight, well you were, for that period of time.
“You were vilified, how have you dealt with that?”
Hancock responds: “I feel a sense of injustice at being made to be essentially accused of corruption, ’cause that is what, if you boil it down, the accusation is, when I’ve essentially given my professional life so far in public service, and I know for a fact we did the right thing.
“And I didn’t benefit a drop from it and it’s just this sense of injustice that, hold on, I was doing the best I could in difficult circumstances and now I get a load of shit for it.
“Course it has an impact on me professionally that I have to deal with, but it doesn’t matter here (pointing to chest). What matters here is what I think of myself and also what the people I love and care about think of me and what people I respect think of me.”
Asked if he sees the course as an opportunity for redemption, he adds: “Well, I don’t know about redemption … the thing about this course is, as you say, it strips you back and you’ve got to leave it all on the line.”
Later, during the interrogation part of the episode, a female interrogator makes Hancock strip off, saying: “Take all these clothes off, give me that number first.
“We move at a pace, no moaning, no groaning, no pulling your face.”
She then asks him to get his bag emptied “nice and quickly” and goes onto berate him for the way he says “no” to her when asked if he has any weapons in his bag.
She shouts at Hancock: “Do not give me any f****** attitude.”
The interrogator then picks on the former health secretary’s appearance and says: “I tell you something that’s really fascinating me, really fascinating me, cause with all due respect, you’re not a good-looking guy are you, pubes on your chest, moobs, so how did you do it? Matty babe? Huh?
“Oh, you’re not talking now, now you don’t want to talk about it, do you?”
“You haven’t asked me a question,” Hancock responds.
Before their jungle navigation task, the episode also sees the recruits pitted against each other once again in pontoon wrestling, a test of aggression and hand-to-hand combat.
Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins continues on Channel 4.