BBC correspondent struggles to pronounce Gina Coladangelo’s name when describing Hancock affair claims

Matt Hancock’s alleged affair with his aide Gina Coladangelo has posed a lot of questions to the British media on Friday morning.

Was the minister breaking Covid rules? Who leaked the CCTV images? What next for Hancock? But few probably stopped to consider how to say Ms Coladangelo’s surname.

Well, one person who learned the hard way was the BBC’s political correspondent Ben Wright, who attempted to say Coladangelo live on BBC Breakfast but made a bit of a meal of it.

He takes about three or four stabs at it before finally getting it right and lord knows we’ve all been there at some point in our lives where the words just won’t come out. Fortunately for many of us, our slip-ups aren’t captured on national television. Solidarity with you, Mr Wright.

This is one of the few amusing aspects of this story. The health secretary, who has been under intense scrutiny since the pandemic began, was reportedly called “f**king hopeless” by Boris Johnson in WhatsApp messaged leaked by the PM’s former adviser Dominic Cummings.

Hancock, who married his wife Martha Hoyer Millar in 2006 and has three children with, reportedly met Coladangelo in the early 2000s when they were both at Oxford University. The 43-year-old is married to Oliver Tress, the founder of upmarket high street retailer Oliver Bonas.

Hancock has now apologised for breaching social distancing guidance and asked for privacy for his family. The images, appearing to show him in an embrace with Coladangelo, were said to be from May 6 when Government guidance said two people from different households should not hug.

He said: “I accept that I breached the social distancing guidance in these circumstances. I have let people down and am very sorry.

“I remain focused on working to get the country out of this pandemic, and would be grateful for privacy for my family on this personal matter.”