KEZIA Dugdale is a stinking hypocrite. Let’s just get that out of the way from the get go. It’s only months since the former Scottish Labour leader spent an election campaign banging on about “getting on with the day job”, in an endless jibe at the SNP for – shockingly for a party that exists to achieve Scottish independence – continuing to make the case for an independent Scotland.

Dugdale and Scottish Conservatives leader Ruth Davidson were like a double act with that rhetoric, and yet here we are, a few months later, and both Dugdale and Davidson have been dazzled by celebrity prospects and signed themselves up for reality television.

Davidson will be taking part in the Great British Bake Off, and we’re told it’s a charity fundraiser, as though we’re all too stupid to see that Davidson’s ego is on cloud nine. There’s nothing like a bit of reality TV to demonstrate your commitment to the day job.

But Dugdale really stole the spotlight when it was revealed that she was jetting off to Australia to take part in I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! It’s a rather extreme sequel to the episode of I’m A Scottish Labour Party Leader … Get Me Out Of Here, in which she recently starred.

Not only did Dugdale’s news cause a social media storm that left most of us rubbing our eyes for a couple of hours to make sure we were reading it right, but it completely overshadowed the election of her successor, Richard Leonard, who wasn’t too happy about it.

Indeed, some of the most stinging criticism of Dugdale came from within her own party. While it’s fair for us all to consider whether this is an appropriate move for a serving member of our parliament, Labour immediately began talk of a possible suspension before she’d even entered the jungle.

And that’s when the most fascinating split began to emerge. In the unlikeliest of scenarios, Dugdale’s entry into one of the cheesiest, Z-list celeb shows ever to have been concocted, united nationalists and unionists alike in Scotland as they got behind #TeamKez.

It’s like a Scottish family thing: we can rip each other apart, but we won’t put up with anyone else doing it. The criticism of Dugdale became so extreme, so news-dominating, that it created a fanbase of people kicking back at the overreaction.

Yes, Dugdale is a hypocrite, but come on – we’ve just had weeks of revelations and allegations about members of Parliament sexually harassing their staff; taking part in a reality TV show is pretty miniscule on the list of bad things politicians have done.

In addition, Dugdale’s partner is SNP MSP Jenny Gilruth, who has vocally defended the Labour politician in her absence, making it a bit tricky for the SNP to be too critical in the circumstances. Rather, SNP and indy supporters have, almost remarkably, rallied round #TeamKez and they dominated the social media noise when Dugdale finally arrived in the jungle last week.

Glasgow SNP councillor Mhairi Hunter summed it up best, tweeting: “I hardly ever watch TV but I feel we should all make a commitment to watch the hell out of this ridiculous show & ensure our girl wins. This could be the nonsensical foolishness that brings the warring tribes of Scotpol Twitter together. #TeamKez.”

And it was brilliant, even if just for watching Scottish political boffins trying to figure out the rules of the show. It was a bit like watching my old dad trying to figure out what to do with a smartphone.

So, at this early stage, I have to hand it to #TeamKez. Whether we like it or not, reality television such as I’m A Celeb has a huge audience, and it’s good fun. While we political geeks love nothing more than live-tweeting along to Question Time on a Thursday night, a substantially different audience enjoys doing the same with shows like I’m A Celeb. Dugdale is taking a big risk in trying to reach that audience in an effective way. It didn’t work out for George Galloway in Celebrity Big Brother, but it didn’t do Jeremy Corbyn any harm when he took part in Gogglebox.

But regardless, it’s clear that Nicola Sturgeon is eclipsing Dugdale and Davidson on the day job as they chase their new celebrity brands. I’ll be backing #TeamKez because it’s negative and futile to fight against joining in the fun, but I won’t be forgetting the rank hypocrisy sitting at the heart of Scottish politics.