When ITV announced they’d managed to snag the Mike Tindall for this year's I'm A Celebrity– who's married to King Charles’s niece, Zara – fans were on the edge of their seat waiting to see whether he’d spill some major tea. And now, it looks like Mike has broken the number one royal rule – and it’s all to do with Matt Hancock.
The royal family are, as a rule, expected to stay largely out of politics - and refrain from giving their personal opinions on certain topics, as to appear neutral at all times.
In fact, Meghan Markle even addressed the ways in which marrying into the royal family means sometimes biting your tongue on certain subjects, revealing that there was ‘certainly a precedent’ among the royal family of not having any involvement in political matters.
But with Former Health Secretary Matt Hancockcurrently in the camp, it looks like Mike finally gave us the first televised example of Royalty vs Government.
Upon finding out he was going head to head with Matt for the role of camp leader, Mike said 'If I went home and I’d lost to Matt Hancock, I’d be in so much sh*t.’
And after indeed losing the leadership contest to Matt and deputy Charlene White, Mike said, ‘I’m devastated to have been beaten – not because I’m a sportsman, but because I got beaten by Matt Hancock.'
Awks – it’s sounding like Mike maybe isn’t a huge Matt fan.
And it turns out viewers picked up on Mike’s potential political leanings too…
One wrote, ‘Mike just got beat by Matt Hancock – that won’t go down well with the royals,’ whilst another added, ‘Ooo go on Mike, we love it!’
And whilst some questioned whether Mike’s royal background really gave him a stance to comment on his Tory campmate, one viewer tweeted, ‘Just think – Mike had to console his wife when the Duke of Edinburgh passed, and then had to watch his in-laws grieve at the funeral and not be able to comfort one another, only to find out the Tories all partied and broke their own lockdown laws! He’s probs fuming inside.’
And losing the leadership run to Matt isn’t the first time Mike’s let slip his inner feeling – with the former England Rugby player previously branding his campmate’s words ‘bullsh*t’.
Seeing Mike Tindall in his Speedos and calling out the the former Health Secretarycertainly wasn't on our 2022 bingo card – but his stint in the jungle is certainly bringing it all.