Hancock’s fee has been branded as “disgusting”.
Matt Hancock is being paid close to half a million pounds by I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!, a media report suggested on Thursday.
The Sun said the MP – who was suspended from the Tory party on Tuesday when news broke he was heading Down Under for the show – is to be paid £400,000 (€462,894) to take part in the ITV series that hits screens this Sunday.
A source revealed: “Matt’s pay deal with I’m A Celebrity is around £400,000 which is one of the largest ever show fees to have been paid out. Fellow contestant Boy George is said to be getting £1 million, meanwhile.
“ITV were keen for viewers to think the deal was worth around £150,000 but in reality it’s over double that.”
The insider told The Sun that ITV approached Hancock three times in a matter of weeks to join the cast “and the money definitely helped seal the deal”.
The 44-year-old former health minister has said he will make a sizeable donation to charity from his pay cheque. The Sun spoke to residents within Hancock’s West Suffolk constituency who were outraged by his fee.
Sharon Twite, 50, landlady of The White Swan, in Exning, said it was “disgraceful” Hancock was getting so much money to “eat grubs in the jungle”.
“He’s just profiting off his shocking behaviour. He thinks he can get away with anything. The man just doesn’t have his feet on the ground,” she said of the MP she voted for at the last General Election.
She added: “Trust me, everyone round here will be hammering the phones to make sure he does every shocking, terrifying, dirty trial available. I hope he gets the jungle runs.”
A spokesperson for Hancock previously said he will be making a donation to St Nicholas Hospice in Suffolk and causes supporting dyslexia off the back of his appearance.
The spokesperson said Hancock will also declare the amount he receives from the show to Parliament to “ensure complete transparency, as normal.”
Hancock, who also signed up for the next series of Channel 4 series Celebrity SAS Who Dares Wins, reportedly landed in Brisbane late on Tuesday and is now in quarantine before the show begins.
Writing in The Sun on Wednesday, Hancock insisted his decision to join I’m A Celebrity was not driven by money but to help promote his campaign about dyslexia, a condition he was diagnosed with after leaving school.
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