'I fell in love with somebody': Matt Hancock says affair with Gina Coladangelo did NOT break law

Former health secretary Matt Hancock has denied he broke the law by having an affair with a close aide during lockdown that destroyed his political career.

The 43-year-old was forced to quit last June after CCTV images showed him in an embrace with his married lover Gina Coladangelo, 44, inside the Department of Health during the height of the pandemic.

But speaking to a business podcast he said the relationship started 'quite quickly' after legal social distancing curbs were lifted and replaced by guidance. 

Speaking to The Diary of a CEO podcast, released this morning, Mr Hancock said he 'fell in love' with Coladangelo after bringing her in to work with him. 

He told the podcast host, entrepreneur and Dragons' Den investor Steven Bartlett: 'It actually happened after the rules were lifted, but the guidance was still in place. I resigned because I broke the social distancing guidelines by then.

'They weren't actually rules. They weren't the law. But that's not the point.

'The point is they were the guidelines that I'd been proposing. And that happened because I fell in love with somebody.' 

People had to stay two metres apart from anyone outside their household or bubble, under the guidance at the time. 

Mr Hancock stressed that his relationship with Miss Coladangelo was serious, saying he hated that some had 'got the impression somehow that this was [casual sex]'.

Speaking to a business podcast he said the relationship started 'quite quickly' after legal social distancing curbs were lifted and replaced by guidance.

The 43-year-old was forced to quit last June after CCTV images showed him in an embrace with his married lover Gina Coladangelo, 44, inside the Department of Health during the height of the pandemic.

Speaking to the The Diary of a CEO podcast, released this morning, Mr Hancock said he 'fell in love' with Coladangelo after bringing her in to work with him. 

Mr Bartlett, who appears on the Dragen's Den show as an investor, said on Twitter that Mr Hancock and Gina Coladangelo had 'stopped by' for a chat

The host said the interview was 'a little heated' but Mr Hancock 'did answer all of the tough questions I asked him and nothing will be edited out'

The father-of-three expressed his regret at the pain that the affair had caused after it triggered the breakdown of his 15-year marriage to wife Martha to be with Miss Coladangelo - who was also married with three children.

He added that he had known Miss Coladangelo for 'more than half of my life' since first working together on the student radio at Oxford University.

She was brought by him into the health department for help with 'public communications'.

Mr Hancock said: 'We spent a lot of time together, ironically, trying to get me to be able to communicate in a more emotionally intelligent way.

'And we fell in love. And that's something that was completely outside of my control.'

He also admitted the Government knew some measures it took during the pandemic were 'very damaging'.

The couple have been seen in public together a handful of times since the affair was revealed, including on romantic getaways in Split, Croatia, and in the Swiss Alps last year.

Mr Hancock found himself in hot water in January this year after stripping off for a bracing winter swim in Hyde Park's Serpentine lake

Mr Hancock was forced to quit the Cabinet last year after CCTV from his Whitehall office was leaked which showed him kissing his married aide in breach of Covid social-distancing guidance. The pair continued dating after their affair was exposed. 

Mr Bartlett tweeted a fortnight ago that he had interviewed Mr Hancock.

He said: 'Matt Hancock x The Diary Of A CEO! Matt Hancock stopped by with his new partner Gina to speak to me.

'It’s time to find out what really happened, it’s time to ask the questions we’ve not had answers to; Party gate? Where did the CCTV footage come from? What mistakes did he make?'

He added: 'This is the first time in the history of The Diary Of A CEO that things got a little heated between me and a guest at one point.

'However, Matt did answer all of the tough questions I asked him and nothing will be edited out. You will see it all.'

Mr Bartlett also tweeted pictures of Mr Hancock and Ms Coladangelo at the interview, with the former health secretary wearing blue jeans and a navy roll-neck jumper.

The podcast interview comes after Mr Hancock and Ms Coladangelo were pictured together at the Brit Awards in London earlier this month.

One reveller told The Sun that Mr Hancock had been mobbed by spectators and was 'treated like some sort of rock God'.

They said the couple were 'kissing quite a bit, and are clearly pretty smitten with one another'.

Mr Hancock and Ms Coladangelo were pictured together last September as they headed out for dinner with friends during a romantic getaway to the Swiss Alps.

The couple stayed at a £87-a-night hotel tucked away in the mountains in the village of Villars-sur-Ollon, near Montreux.