Matt Hancock triggered huge uproar last year when he announced he'd be taking part in the 2022 series of I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!.

And telly lovers were left equally shocked when earlier this month it was revealed he was in the line-up to appear in the incoming series of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins – arguably the most arduous and gruelling reality show in British TV.

But this week, his co-star – and seemingly new close pal – Danielle Lloyd has somewhat defended the former Health Secretary's decision to take part in the hit Channel 4 show, despite the fact he was "annihilated" by the special forces officers that host it.

"Some people definitely had a few questions for him over what went down during the pandemic, but I won’t give too much away," the model, 39, exclusively told OK!.

"All I’ll say is that he did handle confrontation quite well. It was such an intense situation, but I think the officers absolutely annihilated him."

Following his sporadic decision making during the pandemic, Matt's exit from his government minister role was infamous, triggered by a full-page picture on The Sun newspaper showing him kissing his aide (now girlfriend) Gina Colangelo.

But Danielle said she was open to the idea of getting to know the ex-MP on a 1-2-1 basis whilst on the show, claiming herself not to be specifically clued up about all things current affairs.

"Do you know what? I didn’t have an opinion on him before," the mum-of-five confessed. "I’m definitely not into politics, he was just someone I saw on the news every day when we were being told not to leave our houses.

"But when I met him, he was nice enough to me – really friendly. I tend to take people as I find them, I try not to take into account things I’ve heard before."

Danielle even admits that the now close-knit duo are in the midst of arranging plans to meet up, joined by their partners Michael O’Neill and Gina.

"Matt messaged me the other day asking if Michael and I wanted to go out with him and Gina on a double date for some food some time," she laughed. "We’re very different people – I honestly don’t know what we’d talk about, but I’m sure it’d be a fun night.

"I’d just have to get him drunk!"

The Liverpool-born TV star also confirmed that – despite a rocky start with his co-contestants – Matt is part of the series' WhatsApp group.

"We’re trying to get everyone together for a night out, but it’s hard because we all have separate projects going on. I do think we’ll meet up again soon though."

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