By Splash! contestant Penny Mordaunt MP has defended her decision to take part in the competition.
Mordaunt - who will compete against Danielle Lloyd, Patrick Monahan, Dan Osborne and Paul Young in this weekend's heat - told Digital Spy that she took some time before agreeing to sign up.
Read our full interview with Penny Mordaunt MP
"I thought long and hard about it because obviously, given the efforts of some of my colleagues and things they've done in the past, I could obviously see it was a risky thing to do," she admitted.
"But one of the projects in my community is a dilapidated lido that we're bringing back into use, and I thought, 'Hang on, there's a great fit here between trying to raise a bit of money for them and give them a bit of oomph'."
Mordaunt added that Tom Daley's cousin actually won a competition to redesign the lido's diving boards, saying: "I just thought, 'This is serendipity'. So I went and spoke to the programme and said, 'Look, I'm interested, but I would like to be able to do it so that my fee goes to this charity and that we could do a whole raft of fundraising around it'. And then I spoke to my whips, and they thought, 'Good idea', and the rest is history."
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However, Mordaunt explained that she was "very conscious" of the perception that she was spending time training for a television show instead of working in her constituency or Westminster, explaining that all of her sessions have been timed outside of working hours.
"I've done lots of sporting challenges for charities in the past - Great South Run, abseiling down buildings - and people don't bat an eyelid when you're training for those sort of things," she said. "The programme has been brilliant in providing me with training sessions that fit round my parliamentary work and my constituency work, so I haven't had to do what Nadine [Dorries] did [on I'm a Celebrity] and basically be away or take time off, which is why my whips are completely comfortable with it.
"It's been quite challenging doing that - I've had a lot of early starts. All contestants have had about 20 hours of dive training, and I've probably spent a lot more time than that training for a half marathon or other sporting events. I think the proof of the pudding's in the eating, which is my constituents have got behind me. I've had so much support on Twitter, on email - this weekend I've had loads of cards that have come to my office. It's been absolutely brilliant. So I definitely think it's been the right thing to do."
Mordaunt also dismissed the image of MPs "just sat on the green benches", pointing out that they also do a lot of community action and fundraising.
"In my time I have worn pink bunny ears, I've been dunked by my local football club and their charity - you do all sorts of crazy and wacky things," she said. "The money we've raised already from my participation in the show is going to pay for an entire summer's swimming for my constituents, so it's the best 20 hours I've probably spent."
Splash! continues on Saturday (January 18) at 7pm on ITV.
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