BBC Breakfast has unearthed footage of Andy Burnham performing a salsa after the Prime Minister said he would never want to take part in Strictly Come Dancing.
Mr Burnham's dancing past came to light after he spoke about the BBC competition while watching Graeme 'The Dogfather' Hall and professional dancer Lauren Oakley perform a salsa to an ABBA melody on Gogglebox's Stand Up to Cancer special.
Anxiety on the dancefloor
While on the show, Burnham revealed that hearing the music brought back memories of his own experience on the dancefloor.
"When I hear this music I get a clang of anxiety, I did this for Rob Burrow. Honestly, never, ever again," he said.
The clip prompted BBC Breakfast to track down footage of him taking part in a charity dance event in honour of the late rugby league star Rob Burrow.
Charity performance in honour of Rob Burrow
Back when he was Greater Manchester Mayor, Burnham performed a salsa to Ricky Martin's Livin' La Vida Loca alongside professional dancer Cara Tighe at the Burrow Strictly Ball.
The 2024 event was held to raise money for charities supporting people affected by motor neurone disease (MND), the condition Burrow was diagnosed with in 2019.
The former Leeds Rhinos player became a prominent campaigner for MND awareness and research before his death in June 2024, aged 41.
Song choice if he returned
Despite his apparent nerves about dancing, Burnham did reveal which song he would choose if he ever returned to the dancefloor.
"I could go on Strictly, I could do it with a Manchester icon, I think I'd do Sit Down by James," he said. The song, originally released by Manchester band James in 1989, has become closely associated with the city's music scene.
BBC Breakfast shared the unearthed footage on Instagram, writing: "Andy Burnham's 'Strictly' dance video, found by #BBCBreakfast."
The comments were full of praise for the PM, as one wrote: "I thought he came across really well on Gogglebox and fair play to him for doing this", another added: "Very good, id give him severn!"
