Since stepping down in July, Johnson is known to have held talks with entertainment and talent agencies, including Endeavour, run by US businessman Ari Emanuel, and the Harry Walker Agency (HWA), one of its subsidiaries. HWA’s clients include Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Serena Williams. Johnson’s earning potential is said by some of those he held talks with before Liz Truss’s resignation to be around £20m a year. Most Tories, including Johnson’s supporters, believe the main reason behind his withdrawal from the contest to replace Truss a fortnight ago was that he was told he risked damaging the Tory party and his reputation within it . However, some of his allies were surprised and disappointed by his decision. “There were a lot of people upset with Boris,” said a senior Tory official. “They had publicly supported him only to see him withdraw at the last minute. They didn’t understand why.” Their confusion deepened on Friday when Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers, made it clear that Johnson had definitely received enough nominations (the support of at least 100 MPs) to proceed to a final “indicative” MP vote and then a ballot with the 170,000 or so party members who would have the final say. At the time, some doubted that he had approached 100. The Observer has said that people associated with Emanuel made it clear to Johnson that if he lost to Sunak, his appeal to a global audience, and therefore much of his earning power, would disappear. Understandably, the talent industry believed his value would have at least halved. Matt Hancock is being paid £400,000 to take part in I’m a Celebrity… Picture: PA Last night, a spokesman for Johnson said financial reasons played no part in his decision and were “completely irrelevant”. The spokesman repeated what the former prime minister said in a statement when he left. In it Johnson said he had “unfortunately come to the conclusion that this (taking up the fight for membership) was simply not going to be the right thing to do. You can’t govern effectively if you don’t have a single party in parliament.” The implication was that even if he had won nationally, the party would have split because more MPs would almost certainly have backed Sunak in the indicative vote. Another senior Tory spokesman said: “What I think worried Boris most is that the rest of his life would be awful, with people – including those friends who told him not to act – saying he had destroyed the party and us lost in the next election. That doesn’t mean that financial issues may not have been on his mind.” Meanwhile, Matt Hancock, the former health secretary, was told yesterday that he could be earning around £1m a year by signing up to I’m a Celebrity. Showbiz guru Jonathan Shalit, CEO of InterTalent Rights Group, told GB News: “I suspect the reasons are very simple. He must make a lot of money. Now he is separated from a lady. she has children He doesn’t get much money as an MP, however his outgoings will be significant, if not more, so he needs a lot of money. “Also, his career is going nowhere in the Conservative party. Rishi Sunak is clear that he is not going to give him much work. Thus his career as an MP comes to an end. I’m a Celebrity provides an opportunity to go on a new journey.” Hancock is reportedly being paid a £400,000 fee to take part in the ITV reality show. Shalit said Hancock had an earning potential of £1m a year “on average” if his tenure in the jungle went well. “You could get a million to a million and a half next year, but that could go down to £750,000. “But someone like Matt can probably make around £1million a year, quite often at weekends. For example, he could probably do three or four shows for £10-15,000 each, at least, if not up to £60-70,000.’