BBC Breakfast sparked viewer backlash on Wednesday after featuring an Andy Burnham lookalike. Presenters Sally Nugent and Jon Kay were left speechless as Welsh chaplain Emma Roberts, who has gained social media fame for her resemblance to the Labour leader, appeared on the show.
Lookalike’s rise to fame
Emma Roberts from Swansea, a Quaker chaplain, usually posts about religion on social media. She said people began commenting on her posts, calling her the Labour leader’s doppelgänger. She has since changed her social media handle to “Mandy Burnham”.
“I think it’s part of the algorithm you know, everyone gets excited and somebody says, ‘You look like Andy Burnham.’ I couldn’t get a word in edge ways,” Emma explained. “I make all of this quite serious and earnest content, you know, about politics and religion, and I couldn’t get a word in edge ways. People kept on saying I look like Andy Burnham, and that was only about two weeks ago. So, it’s all just kind of exploded since then.”
Wish to speak to Burnham
“I have literally been plucked at random from the British public simply because of my eyebrows and my glasses. So, I am the typical, ordinary, random person from across the UK and I suppose I’ve got something to say, so I would love to speak to [Burnham],” she said.
“One of the things I would like to say is, I was talking to my, I’ve got builders and plumbers and electricians here at the moment, and what we were all saying, we want normal back. This world has gone mad. Just give us normal politics and normal policies. Normal, sensible stuff. Normal, sensible ideas that's gonna work for the Great British central, kind of, politics of the country.”
Viewer reactions
Later in the show, Sally and Jon revealed viewers had sent in more Andy Burnham lookalikes, including Paul Heaton from the Beautiful South and a BBC sign language star. However, many BBC viewers were unimpressed by the segment, feeling it was not newsworthy.
“#BBC Breakfast so far, Netflix film, TOTP's, and now Mandy Burnham, another day struggling to find news, what a joke,” one X user fumed. Another added: “This has morphed into GB News getting random members of [the] public on tv lol,” while a third said: “Is this what it has become? A lady that looks like Andy Burnham becomes news #NotNews.”
A fourth viewer echoed: “What a load of BBC non news b*******,” while someone else shared: “So desperate you're now resorting to 'lookalike' Burnhams.” Meanwhile, others were charmed by Emma’s appearance, with one person commenting: “What a lovely lady with a good sense of humour.” Another added: “Love it.”
BBC Breakfast airs daily on BBC One at 6am.
