Matt Hancock red faced after being spotted in same shirt he auctioned for NHS fundraiser
Matt Hancock has been called out for wearing a football shirt he had auctioned in 2020 during the pandemic.
Matt Hancock discusses his previously auctioned Newcastle shirt
Eagle-eyed football fans left former health secretary Matt Hancock with questions after they spotted him wearing a Newcastle United top he had auctioned for charity. The Magpies supporter proudly wore the signed shirt on a TikTok where he talked about being excited about going to see his team take on Manchester United at yesterday’s Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
In the clip he said: "So exciting. If you've been a Newcastle fan we've waited years for this.
“We haven't been to Wembley for years. This is the most exciting thing that's happened since Kevin Keegan. Bring it on."
But many commenters pointed out to him that he had auctioned the shirt back in 2020 during the pandemic, when DJ Chris Evans had organised a charity auction to raise funds to make scrubs for NHS workers.
Back then the online auction for the shirt helped raise a total of £1,850.
Other celebrities who took part in Chris Evans’s Scrubs Glorious Scrubs auction included Ant and Dec and Rod Stewart.
The auction, which was run by BIN-IN auctions to help charities with fundraising during the pandemic, raised almost £600,000.
TikTok user Chunk wrote: “Hope you won the auction for that jersey,” and Sam Gibbons asked “Didn’t you promise to auction that shirt???”
Mr Hancock recorded another TikTok today to explain to people why he still had the shirt.
He says the person who had bought the signed top had given it back to him as a gift.
The I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here contestant added: “Really gutted about the result last night, I mean to come so close.
"A load of people have been in contact about my shirt that I was wearing last night and they spotted that it's the same one that I auctioned for charity a couple of years ago."
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He added: "And what happened was the guy who bought it then gave it back to me as a gift, which is really kind of him, I'm very grateful. So I've still got my beloved signed shirt."
The West Suffolk MP has previously said that the top was given to him by his uncle and it was because of his relative that he became a Magpies supporter.
Despite his lifelong allegiance to the club, many people on social media are having a tough time accepting that he is a fan and some are even blaming him for the team’s defeat yesterday.
GJ Kelly posted on Twitter: “Supported Newcastle since the 1950s through all those years of bitter disappointment but the fact this man wears the shirt is the final straw. I’m done.”
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And MShellMoo tweeted: “On behalf of my fellow Geordies, can I clarify that Matt Hancock is nothing to do with us and we’d prefer it if he didn’t mention that he is a NUFC ‘supporter’.”
EmleyJames wrote: “Wor Matt, born in Chester, went Cambridge University and long time MP in Suffolk. Up the Toon! Why aye man.”
Ryan Hargreaves commented: “I despise Man Utd – but had I known this video existed I may well have gone to Wembley in a Man Utd shirt and cheered them on all day long.”