Kezia Dugdale's I'm a Celebrity advice to Matt Hancock

Kezia Dugdale appeared on I'm a Celebrity in 2017

A former Scottish Labour leader has offered some advice for Matt Hancock as he prepares to join the cast of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!

Kezia Dugdale, who was on the reality programme in 2017, said she found it a "lonely experience".

She said she struggled to connect with contestants and urged him to try to be himself if he wants to make friends.

The former health secretary was suspended as a Tory MP after it was announced he was joining the ITV show.

Ms Dugdale, who was an MSP when she joined the show, told BBC Scotland that if Mr Hancock wanted to make friends he needed to stop being a "risk-averse politician".

She also admitted to John Beattie on BBC Radio's Drivetime programme that one of the main reasons she took part in the show five years ago was for the money.

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"I did it for two reasons - to try and show that politicians have a more normal, human side, to build some bridges there but also, if I'm really honest, I did it for the money," she said. "I was in a bit of a pickle at the time with a legal case and was very worried I wouldn't be able to pay my legal bills.

"So I was motivated by the cash - there's no point in me denying that or being anything other than properly honest about it."

Following her appearance on the reality show in 2017, she revealed that she was paid £70,000 and declared between £10,000 and £15,000 worth of travel, accommodation and living expenses, that was paid by ITV.

She donated £5,100 of her appearance fee, as well as £2,500 of her MSP's salary, to charity.

Matt Hancock took part in last year's London Marathon after resigning as health secretary

She said Mr Hancock's decision to go into the jungle was "a brave and courageous move" but she could see why he had done it.

"He's clearly not got a new role or a place to fit in in Rishi Sunak's new government," she said. "But I think it's different for him than it was perhaps for myself or Nadine Dorries (former culture secretary).

"Everybody in the country knows who he is. The decisions he took affected their lives for many months throughout the pandemic so I think they've already formed their view of what he's like as a politician."

Despite describing her jungle experience as "phenomenal", she said her main memories were how cold and wet it was and how lonely she felt.

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"I was expecting tropical temperatures and was sorely disappointed," she said. "It's quite a magical place and you do get smuggled into the deepest jungle in a blacked-out car. You've got no idea how you got there and where you're going, what's going to happen and what you're going to eat. It's definitely an experience."

She jokingly said her best memory was "getting out" but admitted she found it hard to connect to the other celebrities.

"I did 10 or 11 nights sleeping in a hammock under the stars, surrounded by these people I'd only seen before on the telly," she said. "I actually really struggled to have things to talk to them about."

"Any politician who goes into an environment like that full of celebrities will struggle a bit because it's not the type of daily conversation that you're used to."

Mr Hancock will join 10 initial campmates in Australia

She recalled Hollyoaks actor Jamie Lomas being obsessed with bacon sandwiches and said that at least four or five times he went round everyone in the camp asking if they preferred red or brown sauce.

"I can have that conversation once but I can't have it five times," she said. "So I was quite lonely and found it quite difficult to connect with the people I was around so it might not be the easiest shift for him [Matt Hancock].

She said her advice to Mr Hancock would be to "try as much as possible to not be the risk-averse politician that you're built to be".

She explained: "He's used to thinking about an answer to every question and people notice that on live telly - they see the cogs going round in your head, that you're not natural and not being yourself - thinking you're going to get caught out by something you say because it's going to get written up.

"If he wants to make a good impression and wants to make friends in there so it's not a totally lonely experience, he's going to have to drop that and try to be himself as much as possible."

At the time, Ms Dugdale insisted she had used her time in the jungle to promote Labour values

Ms Dugdale said she did not have much regret about her appearance on the show as it gave her economic security at the time and she did not feel it had damaged her political career.

"When I left politics I did so for completely different reasons," she said. "It was entirely my own choice.

"I think sometimes there's just a little bit of prissiness about this. It's one of the most watched TV programmes in the country. It's light entertainment, it's a bit of fun. I understand why it was so unpopular in some political circles but its incredibly popular in the wider country."

Formal reprimand

She added: "I wasn't naïve. I knew it was going to be controversial. I said I would give my salary for the time I was away to charity and I did that and I gave a chunk of the money I earned in the form of a fee to charity too.

"I was away from my work for three weeks - some people were very unhappy about that - but we've also just seen lots of politicians have second jobs or take holidays while parliament is sitting."

However, she admitted that some of the relationships she had in politics were affected by her going on the show.

"Some people were really mad at me and are probably still mad at me, and that's a source of regret," she said. "But largely it was a really positive experience."

There had been speculation that Ms Dugdale faced a possible suspension from Labour when she returned to Scotland after she was evicted from the jungle.

But she was instead given a formal reprimand following a meeting with the then Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard, and was told she would face no further disciplinary action.