You probably haven't been able to scroll on Twitter for the past two days without seeing the video of formerHealth Secretary Matt Hancock saying he broke social distancing rules - when he was caught on camera having an affair - because he 'fell in love'. The segment was cut from his whole interview on the Diary of a CEO podcast, where he was quizzed by Dragons' Den star Steven Bartlett about the government's handling of the Covid-19 crisis.
Throughout the 1hr43min podcast, Steven asks difficult questions and does his best to hold Hancock to account - but it's Matt's responses have garnered outrage. Many are aghast that Hancock thinks he can explain away his affairwith aide Gina Coladangelo, which became front page news as he broke his own guidance.
The affair caused widespread anger last summer, leading to Hancock's resignation, as people were furious the health minister had broken his own guidelines after hundreds of thousands of people had been stopped from seeing their loved ones throughout the pandemic, unable to attend funerals, weddings or say their last goodbyes.
Hancock's excise - that he was 'in love' - has only reignited that anger. As Lorraine Kelly quipped (after referring to him as the 'Pound Shop Milk Tray man' for wearing an outfit of a turtleneck and jeans): 'So, he fell in love! Well, lots of people who were in love weren’t able to see each other during that time, were they?'
After 162,000 deaths in the pandemic, many people will have also wondered why Hancock decided to speak (as if he was a mid-level celeb who made a minor mishap)... Well, according to Hancock himself, he was a fan on the podcast and wanted a chance to be honest. 'One of the things I admire about the podcast is that it's important that we have a space where people can talk about where things go well and where people have failed and what they've learned from that,' he told Steven.
But was he offered money for the interview? Well, the answer might surprise you - as he actually wasn't paid for his guest appearance. (Same as former Love Islander Molly-Mae Hague, who appeared on the podcast earlier this year, and later caused controversy after a comment she made about everyone having the same 24 hours was reshared on Twitter.)
Answering 'Have you / would you ever pay a guest?' in an Instagram Q&A, Steven revealed: 'I have never and I would never pay a guest to come on. Absolutely never. It used to be challenge getting high calibre guests, but when the podcast became more popular that changed. Now, the majority of our guests contact us via their PR teams and request to come on and the remaining 20% are people I've DM'd because I'm interested in them.' With an average of 100,000k views onfor every episode on YouTube, and Steven's informed and fair interview style, it's easy to see why celebs, and, erm, Matt Hancock, want to get on it.
READ MORE::a[Who Is Matt Hancock’s Girlfriend Gina Coladangelo?]{href='https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/in-the-news/who-is-matt-hancocks-girlfriend-gina-coladangelo/' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener noreferrer'}
READ MORE: You Don’t Have To Agree With Molly-Mae To Know This Pile-On Is Too Much