Chris Packham's savage four-word response to Matt Hancock running London Marathon

Chris Packham's priceless reaction to Matt Hancock's London Marathon effort left BBC viewers in stitches.

Fans praised Chris's 'golden' response to Hancock's appearance at the London Marathon, with one saying: "We feel your pain."

The former Health Secretary, who fell from grace, took on the 26.2-mile challenge for the Accessible Learning Foundation (ALF), a charity advocating for better recognition of dyslexia, ADHD, autism, and other conditions needing support. In a pre-marathon video, Hancock, donning a yellow charity vest, expressed his enthusiasm.

"I love the marathon, I love the crowds, the sense of excitement and I love being with all the runners running for a good cause," he declared. "In my case I'm running for the Accessible Learning Foundation, a brilliant neurodiversity charity. Everybody's got their causes they're running for and so there's this real, real spirit."

During the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, wildlife expert Packham was seen burying his face in his hands as the video played. A chuckling Laura then turned to him to inquire about his reaction.

"Oh it's just Matt's lack of insincerity," Chris quipped, arms crossed, as the studio erupted in laughter. Sooz Kempner, a comedian, shared the moment online, commenting: "Chris Packham reacting to Matt Hancock's Kendall Roy energy is all of us today on #bbclaurak."

She continued: "This is mean tbh. Kendall Roy has elements of goodness. He has to work hard to be a callous POS because ultimately he is a broken sad boy who wants to love and accept love, he just can't. Hancock? No excuse."

Another Twitter user expressed solidarity with Packham: "National Treasure Chris Packham with head in hands when he sees Matt Hancock's waffling. We know how you feel Chris. We feel your pain. #BBCLauraK."

A fan praised Packham's reaction: "If you didn't already love @ChrisGPackham his response to seeing Matt Hancock talking about the #LondonMarathon on #bbclaurak was golden."

And another echoed the sentiment: "We all felt like Chris Packham today, listening to Matt Hancock on #bbclaurak."

In a poignant blend of fiction and reality, EastEnders stars Jamie Borthwick and Emma Barton participated in the marathon, mirroring their characters' lives.

Jamie, known as Jay since 2006, has tugged at viewers' heartstrings with his character's grief over losing his beloved Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold).

The BBC soap's producers cleverly integrated this storyline into the real-life event by having Jamie run the marathon as Jay, accompanied by Emma Barton, who portrays Honey.

Embedded cameras have been positioned along significant points of the route, including the famous Cutty Sark in Greenwich, London Bridge and the ultimate finishing line at the Mall. In conversation with sports reporter Gabby Logan, before the filming commenced, he revealed: "We're doing this on screen in memory of Lola, my wife who sadly passed away from a brain tumour in the storyline, so herself and Honey before she passed, put Jay up to do the marathon."

Further clarifying his participation, he added: "So our exec Chris Clenshaw kind of said 'well we're going to do it for real', sprung the idea on us on how do you feel about actually doing the marathon, we stupidly accepted, here we are. But we're actually, we're working today so...We've got our camera crew set up at four points, here, Cutty Sark, London Bridge and the finish line."

This won't be Jamie's first experience sprinting in the London Marathon, having also participated runner in 2019 in tribute to his revered fellow actor Barbara Windsor, whose life sadly ended in December 2020 following a six-year battle with Alzheimer's disease.