EXCLUSIVE: Matt Hancock holds hands with lover Gina Coladangelo on an early morning stroll – days after making a THIRD apology over their affair
- Matt Hancock pictured on early morning walk in London with Gina Coladangelo
- Disgraced Health Secretary was caught on CCTV cheating on his wife with aide
- MP filmed kissing Gina Coladangelo – breaking his own social distancing rules
- The ex-health secretary has admitted that he had ‘blown up every part of my life’
- Mr Hancock said he had ‘let people down’ and apologised to those he had hurt
Matt Hancock has been pictured holding hands with his lover Gina Coladangelo on an early morning stroll just days after he publicly apologised for his rule-breaking affair and admitting the pair’s infamous kiss was ‘a failure of leadership’.
In a rare public appearance, the pair were seen cosying up together on a chilly Saturday morning as they walked through the capital together.
The disgraced former Health Secretary was filmed in a steamy clinch with married aide and millionaire lobbyist Ms Coladangelo in his Whitehall office in June – spelling both the end of his time as a minister, and his 15-year marriage to wife Martha.
Mr Hancock lost his job when it emerged they were seeing each other despite her being his £15,000-a-year aide and them breaking social distancing rules that he had himself created.
Media reports soon after the bombshell revelation speculated that he had left his wife Martha, 44, to pursue a long-term romance with Ms Coladangelo, who was married to Oliver Bonas founder Oliver Tressas.
But it comes just days after Mr Hancock made yet another public appearance after months in the political wilderness on ITV’s Peston – where he made a third grovelling apology for his conduct but failed to directly mention his wife Martha by name.
In a rare public appearance, disgraced ex-Health Secretary Matt Hancock and lover Gina Coladangelo cosy up to another as they take an early morning walk in London
Matt Hancock was pictured holding hands with his lover Gina Coladangelo on an early morning Saturday stroll in London
Mr Hancock and Ms Coladangelo were wrapped up warm as they braved a chilly Saturday morning in their winter jackets.
Mr Hancock wore pale faded jeans and navy trainers, while Ms Coladangelo sported an oversized turtle neck jumper and paired black jeans with combat boots.
It comes after Mr Hancock and Ms Coladangelo were pictured on romantic getaways together in Croatia and the Swiss Alps earlier this year.
Speaking to ITV political editor Robert Peston on his show last week, Mr Hancock said: ‘Well, as you can imagine, the first thing that I focused on was my personal life, and then I focused on my professional responsibilities, and I decided that I had to resign.
‘I had blown up every part of my life and I concentrated on my personal life first as you can probably imagine. It was the right thing to do.’
The Tory MP was exposed in June cheating on his wife Martha after he was caught kissing Ms Coladangelo, who he had appointed as an adviser, in his private office, breaching the social distancing guidelines that he had established.
Mr Hancock tried to ride out the political storm over his flagrant breaches of Covid-19 regulations and his marital infidelity but was eventually forced to resign.
When asked on the ITV’s Peston whether he was surprised Boris Johnson did not sack him, Mr Hancock said: ‘I’m not going to go into the conversations that I had with the Prime Minister.
‘I made the decision [to resign], it was clearly right decision. And I just say, sorry again for the failure of… I let a lot of people down and I’m sorry to the people who I hurt.’
Mr Hancock also insisted that he is ‘not in any hurry’ to return to the Government.
He said: ‘I actually think that being on the backbenches – I’m enjoying it. It’s a very important job.
Martha Hancock, wife of Britain’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock, arrives at her home in London after they split up
‘I think contributions from people who have been there in the heat of battle… Theresa May, the contributions she makes as a former Prime Minister. If I can make that sort of contribution…[then I will be pleased].’
The Hancocks, who met while they were both students at Oxford University and married in 2006, had lived with their daughter, 14, and two sons, 13 and eight, in London and West Suffolk until earlier this year when Mr Hancock’s affair was exposed.
The jaw-dropping footage was taken on May 6 – less than a fortnight before the Government relaxed safety rules including giving permission to hug.
The father-of-three ended his 15-year marriage to wife Martha and has pursued a relationship Ms Coladangelo, a former university friend who was also married with three children.
The pair, who met while studying at Oxford University, have been pictured together at public gatherings for nearly two years, with one image dating back to the Conservative Party Conference in September 2019.
In his resignation letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Hancock said ministers ‘owe it to people who have sacrificed so much in this pandemic to be honest when we have let them down’.
Matt Hancock has admitted he had ‘blown up every part of my life’ after he was caught on CCTV cheating on his wife with his most senior aide
The Tory MP was exposed in June cheating on his wife Martha (pictured together in 2018) after he was caught kissing Ms Coladangelo
After the CCTV clip emerged, Mr Hancock confirmed his resignation and said he wanted to ‘reiterate his apology for breaking the guidance’.
He said: ‘The last thing I would want is for my private life to distract attention from the single-minded focus that is leading us out of this crisis.
‘I want to reiterate my apology for breaking the guidance, and apologise to my family and loved ones for putting them through this. I also need (to) be with my children at this time.’
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