Charlene White admits ‘I was wrong not to be explicit’ about RV-gate

I'm A Celeb: Charlene White emotional as she remembers her kids

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Loose Women presenter Charlene White, 42, broke down in tears as she explained her daily “turmoil” when former Health Secretary Matt Hancock entered the I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! jungle. She says she had to “walk a tightrope” to be impartial every day for fears that she could lose her job.

And Charlene, who was the first contestant voted out of the show on Friday night, also tearfully admits she regrets not being “more explicit” about her reasons for refusing to sleep in the RV alongside Matt.

Asked to describe how she felt when Hancock controversially entered the camp, Charlene said: “Immediately, I was doing the mental arithmetic 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, as soon as he walked in I thought… I’m going to be walking a tightrope here.”

The ITV newsreader said she was conscious not to do anything in the camp that could “jeopardise” her job or journalistic integrity, including being seen as “too sympathetic” towards Matt or the Conservative Party.

Charlene added to the Mirror’s Mark Jefferies that she was “constantly going through inner turmoil” because she believed it “would have shattered the impartiality that I’ve consistently had for 20 years”.

The row over the sleeping situation – dubbed RV-gate – sparked criticism by fans and even hosts Ant and Dec who told viewers they “didn’t get” why she wouldn’t sleep in the motorhome with Matt.

Charlene refused on the first night because of a spider and then continued to refuse which appeared to annoy the other celebrities as it forced one of them onto a hammock which left them with back pain.

In reality, the move by Charlene was again linked to her job and impartiality fears, but this was only explained minutes before she left the camp.

Charlene said: “Sue knew how uncomfortable it was and a few of the others knew how uncomfortable it was because we’ve had individual conversations about it.  

“All that was on my mind was that the pandemic inquiry is still live, you have grieving families that will be sitting there thinking ‘Why is Matt Hancock doing this programme when we still have unanswered questions? We are still grieving, we’re still hurt’.  

“That was in my heart the entire time. And any decision I made. I’ve got to interview those families. Next week, next month, next year.  I’ve got to interview those business owners who lost businesses, I’ve got to think about all these, all the people that are affected by it.  

“If I then turn up to talk to them and they don’t feel that they can trust me, that’s, that’s my integrity gone. So, this tightrope I was walking constantly.”

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In reflection, Charlene admits it was “wrong” of her not to make her reasons “more explicit”, but she says she “didn’t know how interesting OFCOM guidelines and impartiality rules would be to a viewer”.  

As she started to cry, she added: “I was wrong, completely wrong not to be more explicit about it. I understand that now. Yeah, and hindsight is a wonderful thing.  

“But I only ever had the thoughts of those who have lost loved ones and still want answers. And who feel, I assume, that wasn’t the right thing for Matt to do.”

Charlene also says Matt understood her reasons and why she would sometimes take herself away from camp conversations.

She revealed that they had a conversation about impartiality while in the camp and that she feels “he knows how uncomfortable it could be”. 

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