Entertainment
Dancing On Ice star Matt Evers slams Number 10 Christmas party as he reveals ‘nervous breakdown’ during isolation
The skater hit out at the leaked video footage (Picture: Brett Cove / SOPA Images/Sipa USA)
Dancing On Ice star Matt Evers has slammed the leaked video of Downing Street staff joking about a secret Christmas party last year, revealing that he suffered a nervous breakdown while following lockdown restrictions.
Footage obtained by ITV News shows Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s former press secretary Allegra Stratton answering questions at a mock press conference on December 22, 2020, about a party the previous Friday.
It comes after Mr Johnson insisted no rules were broken following claims a Christmas bash was held at No 10 during Covid restrictions.
Writing on Twitter, American skater Matt voiced his frustrations and called the footage a ‘f****** joke’ after he was forced to isolate and unable to return home last year.
‘I’m done now,’ he wrote, referencing the breaking news story. ‘I’ve never spoken of this. Last Christmas I had a nervous breakdown.’
He added: ‘Unable to return home, I as the rest of my cast, were all in single isolation and it was literal hell.
‘Knowing that the government had “meetings” (parties) is a f****** joke. A f****** joke.’
Matt, who has starred on Dancing on Ice since back in 2006, was one of celebrities to hit out at the government on social media on Tuesday night.
In the footage, key officials, including the then communications director Allegra Stratton, laugh about a ‘fictional’ party not being socially distanced and ‘cheese and wine’ ‘not being alright’ in a mock press conference – before she warns: ‘this is recorded’.
Number 10 is under fire following the leaked video footage (Picture: Charles McQuillan – Pool / Getty Images)
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ITV said the video was filmed four days after one of the alleged parties, at which 40-50 people were ‘cheek by jowl’, according to the Daily Mirror.
It came at a time when police were shutting down events for ordinary people, while others were strictly sticking to guidance, as Covid tore through the UK.
More: Dancing on Ice
In response to the footage, a Downing Street spokesman said: ‘There was no Christmas party. Covid rules have been followed at all times.’
Piers Morgan also criticised the ‘shameful’ video earlier on Tuesday, writing: ‘Boris Johnson is continuing to lie about last year’s illicit Christmas party at No10 – even when we’ve all now seen his own spokeswoman on video laughing about it & wondering how best to lie about it to the media. Even by his standards, this is absolutely shameful.’
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