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It's been a decent series: a matt finish would put the gloss on it.
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One of the problems with the fact that these days we know weeks beforehand who is going in is that it allows more time to review the list and think "most of these are scraping the bottom of the barrel". I must admit that I felt that way about this year's crop: they seemed to have blown the whole budget on Boy George and Mike Tindall. Then, a few days before it started came the game-changing announcement that Matt Hancock MP would be joining as a late entrant.
It was a gamble by ITV. They knew that large numbers of the viewers would be up in arms at the very thought that the man who had presided over the COVID crisis and broken his own rules would be allowed to 'reinvent himself' as a celebrity in sunny Australia while we were all struggling with the cost of living back in dark, chilly Britain. They also knew that several of the celebrities would instinctively take a dim view at his presence. The worst case scenario is that there might have been an orchestrated campaign to boycott viewing the show and that some of the celebrities might have walked out.
They must be very relieved that not only did the "worst case" not happen, but both campmates and the general public seem to have slowly drawn a distinction between "Wicked Matt Hancock, the embodiment of everything they hate about the Conservatives" and campmate Matt, who throws himself willingly into tasks, does them well and with mimimum fuss, and mucks in to do whatever is needed.
Is he being himself or just very skilled at creating a narrative that will win people over? Who knows: you could ask that about many of them. For example, Mike seems to be holding something of himself back, Owen is clearly not quite the simple gullible soul that he portrays and Seann was clearly perfecting the art of taking whatever mundane conversations were taking place in camp and spinning them into what he hoped we'd see as ridiculously amusing when he was doing his 1-1s to camera.
The double-hander Matt did with Mike yesterday convinced me that of the two he deserves a place in the final three. I would go further and say that he has given more to the series than Owen, so he deserves to be runner-up. Even I wouldn't suggest that he will or should beat Jill. She has been consistently likeable, genuine, good at tasks and shown herself to have a lovely sense of humour. In short, she's ticked every single box. I thought she had a bit of a lull in the middle, but since the other females have left she's come back strong the last few days.
So I'd be happy with a Jill win, and delighted for Matt to be runner-up.
It was a gamble by ITV. They knew that large numbers of the viewers would be up in arms at the very thought that the man who had presided over the COVID crisis and broken his own rules would be allowed to 'reinvent himself' as a celebrity in sunny Australia while we were all struggling with the cost of living back in dark, chilly Britain. They also knew that several of the celebrities would instinctively take a dim view at his presence. The worst case scenario is that there might have been an orchestrated campaign to boycott viewing the show and that some of the celebrities might have walked out.
They must be very relieved that not only did the "worst case" not happen, but both campmates and the general public seem to have slowly drawn a distinction between "Wicked Matt Hancock, the embodiment of everything they hate about the Conservatives" and campmate Matt, who throws himself willingly into tasks, does them well and with mimimum fuss, and mucks in to do whatever is needed.
Is he being himself or just very skilled at creating a narrative that will win people over? Who knows: you could ask that about many of them. For example, Mike seems to be holding something of himself back, Owen is clearly not quite the simple gullible soul that he portrays and Seann was clearly perfecting the art of taking whatever mundane conversations were taking place in camp and spinning them into what he hoped we'd see as ridiculously amusing when he was doing his 1-1s to camera.
The double-hander Matt did with Mike yesterday convinced me that of the two he deserves a place in the final three. I would go further and say that he has given more to the series than Owen, so he deserves to be runner-up. Even I wouldn't suggest that he will or should beat Jill. She has been consistently likeable, genuine, good at tasks and shown herself to have a lovely sense of humour. In short, she's ticked every single box. I thought she had a bit of a lull in the middle, but since the other females have left she's come back strong the last few days.
So I'd be happy with a Jill win, and delighted for Matt to be runner-up.
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Eloquently put, and deserving of a more positive response than the one above. Jill FTW.
Lovely post .. 🤩 headline very clever 🤗
I’m doubting him winning but I think he’s done amazing even so and deserves to still be there.
Pretty good post to be honest. I dont believe Matt can win although hes pretty popular on facebook at least. Mike was the one I thought I would like but he is pretty arsey at times. Owen for some reason I just find plain annoying to be honest and not really that likeable ( or for me at least) In the task the other day when he was in the harness for me his mask slipped when he didnt get the stars in the box....also for that matter when he was speaking to Shaunn and Jill when it was obvious he was brighter than he made himself out to be
Then again many think he shouldn't have been in there
I don’t think it’s the worst series but has been ruined for me by Hancock being in there, and I don’t get this newfound love for him, he’s still the same trickster he was 2 years ago.
Look behind the eyes and see who’s fooling who.
Don't underestimate the GBP and the way they vote
The 'let's keep him in for a joke/to watch the social media meltdown' base is pretty strong out there
The edit has worked perfectly for him to get him this far, with the 'poor matt is getting bullied/is a nice guy really' edit and ITV knew what they were doing when they signed him up, given the outcry about the last few series being too 'nice and Kumbaya'
Just a shame like most of the pandemic, it has caused things to get pretty divided and bad tempered all over again and yes politics discussion has been pretty much unavoidable making things even more toxic
doubt it's 'love' , sensationalising a bit !
but how he's tackled the trials has been impressive - i thought he'd be 'average' . !
But i guess majority are watching with their eyes and saying what we see !
Specsavers for you !
Did you miss the last two series in Gwrych Castle? I switched off half way through last year.
Newfound love? No, but on what I have been shown, a surprising respect for his calmness under pressure in the trials. I hope all the camp mates have had a positive experience. Jill is my winner but I’m happy with the final four and looking forward to the Cyclone.
He approaches each trial like a project, susses it out first, speaks out loud what he can see and what how he thinks the task should be approached. He's methodical, thorough and just gets on with it
When they leave they all say it's been a great experience, and it was harder than they'd thought, and say what was the most difficult doing without, usually food, and how boring it is in between trials. But for the pay cheque they're getting i'm glad they all leave having found it difficult.
As Matt's done SAS Who Dares Wins, i imagine he's just ticked another box of experiences, like he seemed to having a go at being a jockey.
Are you a painter/decorator by any chance? 😄
One is how little actual camp life we're shown. By that I mean ordinary happenings and interactions in the camp not challenges and trials. Whilst what people do and say must actually have happened I can't help but feel a lot of context is edited out and there are yawning gaps in what people are really being like. It ain't what you show it is what you leave out.
This isn't a Matt thing in particular because the same could apply to a large number of other individuals but I don't like the practice of including people with a current controversial political spin. I don't agree with including sitting MPs anyway. It spoils the escapism aspect of the camp for me personally and what agenda is being pushed subtly and not so much?
Since these sort of shows like to outdo the previous year with a greater load of sensationalism in the current and the next year I'm worried where this is leading. Like for example will they feel the need to pick a politician currently active that is even more controversial than Matt and what issue will they choose for debate? I don't want the series turning into mini referendums or Question Time with fish eyeballs. Wouldn't surprise me if they opted for an SNP politician for example or somebody who was heavily pro fracking etc.
yes, agree with this
I agree, worst line up ever only and only Jill that i liked in the last 4.
Ruined by Matt Hancock,crazy decision by itv but guess they did it to get viewers,
Gone are the days of the eccentric characters like Kim Woodburn, David Van Day, Lady C etc that cause chaos and entertainment.
Boy George ? far more entertaining than most of those
What do you want from trials? I think they have been top notch this year, in fact the whole series has been strong.
I would hope Matt doesn't win, it would tarnish a good series but I have faith he won't.
Best not to watch then
Honestly, this 'worst show/series/episode/lineup ever' tripe is boring. It just highlights how little vocabulary some have.