I'm a Celebrity, third eviction, review: Sue Cleaver sent packing as Matt Hancock becomes genuine contender

Forget Hancock’s Half Hour. How about Hancock’s Fortnight? As bush-based reality franchise I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! (ITV) entered its third and final week, politician Matt Hancock remained a firm jungle fixture. Stone me, what a life.

While the surprise package continued to confound expectations, the third elimination saw actress Sue Cleaver depart the camp. Cleaver might have questioned how “genuine” Hancock is being, even calling him a “f***wit”, but he’s now outlasted her in the contest. On the first full day of World Cup action, it was Downing Street 1, Coronation Street 0.

Well-known as Weatherfield favourite Eileen Grimshaw, the 59-year-old actress initially looked a decent bet for the final. As the days passed, scatological, straight-talking Sue admitted “hitting a wall”. Her role as camp matriarch has been appreciated by campmates but hardly thrilling to watch. Cleaver hasn’t been voted to do a single Bushtucker Trial, hinting that viewers hadn’t engaged with her.

Arguably the highlight of her stay was her confession that "My dog once bit the Queen’s chauffeur while dressed in my dad’s Y-Fronts and a bonnet”. This superbly surreal anecdote was rivalled only by her yell from the dunny when two campmates headed off to tackle a trial: "Good luck, guys! Sorry, I'm just having a dump.” Dignity, Sue, always dignity.

She’d grown so weepy with homesickness, voting her out felt like an act of mercy. She screeched with delight when her name was called and merrily skipped to freedom. She can now tell her husband Brian exactly where to find the dishwasher tablets.

All four celebrities to depart so far have been women: Cleaver, Charlene White, Scarlette Douglas and Love Island’s Olivia Attwood, who left early on medical grounds. England Lioness Jill Scott is left as the last woman standing among eight men.

Down at the creek, which has become a gossip hub akin to the kitchen at a house party, “gender bender” Boy George - who prompted millions of confused parents to ask “Is it a boy or a girl?” when he first appeared on Top Of The Pops in 1982 - discussed coming out as gay and dressing outrageously.

He recalled going clubbing dressed as a nun, only to run into some real nuns en route. This was precisely the sort of frankness and colourful storytelling which prompted ITV to make Boy George the highest-paid campmate ever with a £500k appearance fee. It’s a shame he’s instead spent most of the past fortnight Buddhist chanting and back-biting.

Scott explained how homophobia was way less of a problem in women’s football than it is in the men’s game. All too timely, with the England men’s team backing down over wearing “One Love” rainbow armbands in Qatar earlier today - before Scott’s former team-mate Alex Scott defiantly wore one for her pitch-side BBC punditry.

"You find someone and fall in love with them,” said Scott sagely. “If it’s a woman or a man, I don't think it defines you.”

Loveable lunk Owen Warner took on the latest Bushtucker Trial: the return of the Boiling Point challenge which DJ Chris Moyles fluffed last week. Well, it’s good to recycle. Dodging crocs and snakes in claustrophobic tunnels, Warner was deft, daring and, as always, driven by hunger. He finished with all nine stars and seconds to spare - a considerable improvement on Moyles running out of time with only one meal earned for camp.

This was a quiet instalment for both relatable royal Mike Tindall and former health secretary Hancock. Camp leader Tindall’s contributions were snoring, singing and dancing around in his “budgie smugglers”. Camp cook Hancock’s only act of note was burning the rice. We’ve all done it, just not on primetime TV with a famished Warner watching in horror.

The MP for West Suffolk is now fourth favourite to be crowned King Of The Jungle come Sunday. From vilified patsy to genuine contender is quite some reversal of fortune. If his political career follows a similar trajectory, expect Hancock to be back in the Cabinet before his tan has faded.