Charlene White was the first contestant who got evicted from the show and soon after her, Scarlette Douglas became the second. In her first interview since leaving the jungle, Charlene White shared how her journey completely changed after the arrival of former health secretary Matt Hancock.
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Sleeping with Matt
Charlene White faced a lot of criticism after she refused to sleep in the RV with Matt Hancock. She explained to Sue Cleaver that sharing the same room as Matt ‘doesn’t sit well’ with her ‘impartiality wise’ as she’s an ‘impartial journalist.’ Even Sue accepted it was a ‘tricky’ situation for her.
However, Charlene tearfully admitted she regrets not explaining her reasons for not sleeping in her designated bed as it was a major contribution to her exit. OK! magazine confirms Matt’s controversial entry changed the jungle experience for her. She said:
I was shocked when he walked in but also not shocked.
Immediately, I was doing the mental arithmetics in my head and it had stopped at that point for me just being there and having a laugh and having a joke – that kind of finished when Matt came.
Because I have interviewed enough of the families who have lost loved ones during the pandemic, I am one of those.
I spoke to so many families who had lost dads, mums, granddads, grandparents, as soon as he walked in I thought… I’m going to be walking a tightrope here.
Journalistic integrity
Charlene’s dilemma lay in the fact that if she appeared to be ‘too sympathetic’ to Matt, it would ‘jeopardise’ her journalistic integrity. She even said:
It would have shattered the impartiality that I’ve consistently had for 20 years.
Having Matt on the show put her in a constant state of over analysing everything – especially her career. The journalist confirmed:
So it went from me just having a laugh to me constantly worrying about whether or not I could still do my job when I came out, whether I would still be taken seriously when it comes to dealing with politicians.
And whether the viewers would think I was being too sympathetic to the Conservative party. He walked in and all of that is what was rushing through my head and that was consistently.
I was constantly going through inner turmoil.
Source Used
OK! magazine: I'm A Celeb's Charlene White feared losing Loose Women job when Hancock arrived in jungle
