Andy Burnham will become the first serving prime minister to appear on Gogglebox after Channel 4 announced on Thursday that he had been filmed for the programme's Stand Up To Cancer special alongside Steve Rotheram, the Mayor of the Liverpool City Region.
The broadcaster said the pair would join the show's regular households in reviewing the week's television for the charity edition, which is due to air on Friday 23 October at 9.05pm on Channel 4. Their segment was filmed at 10 Downing Street, according to reports in Deadline and GB News.
The appearance marks an unusual step for a sitting prime minister, who took office only three months ago. It places Mr Burnham on a prime-time entertainment programme at a point when his government is under pressure on several fronts, and does so in the setting of No 10 itself.
Channel 4 teased the segment in a short Instagram reel showing Mr Burnham offering crisps and beer to Mr Rotheram, a longstanding friend and fellow Labour politician. The two men served together as metro mayors in the north west before Mr Burnham's move to Westminster.
In its announcement, carried by LBB and iTalkTelly, Channel 4 said: "The Prime Minister has a longstanding commitment to supporting charities, building on his work as Mayor of Greater Manchester and continuing in office as Prime Minister."
The same announcement said: "The Prime Minister and Mayor of Liverpool join the recently announced Sugababes and Joe Lycett to review the TV of the week - and this time it’s for a good cause."
Channel 4's text described Mr Rotheram as Mayor of Liverpool. His office is Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, a combined authority post he has held since 2017, and is distinct from the separate position of Mayor of Liverpool.
Stand Up To Cancer is a joint fundraising campaign run by Cancer Research UK and Channel 4. The Gogglebox special forms part of the broadcaster's annual programming for the appeal.
Mr Burnham and Mr Rotheram join the Sugababes, whose line-up of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy was confirmed for the special on 21 October, and the comedian Joe Lycett, who will appear with his aunties Margaret and Pauline.
Senior politicians have appeared on the programme before, though none while holding the premiership. Jeremy Corbyn took part in the Stand Up To Cancer special in November 2017 as leader of the opposition. Stanley Johnson, father of the former prime minister Boris Johnson, appeared on Celebrity Gogglebox in June 2019.
Mr Burnham's route to Downing Street was rapid. He won the Makerfield by-election on 18 June with 24,927 votes, or 54.8 per cent, and was announced as Labour leader on 17 July after standing unopposed following Sir Keir Starmer's resignation. He was appointed prime minister on 20 July after an audience with the King.
Mr Rotheram has said he took part partly so that Mr Burnham would not look like "Billy No-Mates" alone on the Downing Street sofa, and GB News reported that the segment was filmed out of work hours, though No 10 has not said which part of the building was used.
What the two men said on air will not be known until the episode is broadcast on Friday evening.
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