Saturday Night Live U.K. ran down the week in television during its cold open — and it did so through the lens of Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s recent appearance on Celebrity Gogglebox. The sketch also took in Prince William’s turn on The Graham Norton Show and The Celebrity Traitors in a whistle-stop tour of the week’s biggest TV moments.
SNL UK (Credits: Variety)
Burnham, played by George Fouracres, featured on the show with Liverpool Mayor Steven Rotheram, played by Emma Sidi, as the pair discussed their favourite television moments of the week. The framing was a neat joke in itself: the Prime Minister’s real-life Gogglebox debut had already been one of the week’s most talked-about TV events.
SNL UK Cold Open Spoofs Andy Burnham on Gogglebox
In the sketch, Sidi’s Rotheram revealed his own television dream. “You know what my favorite program is, Andy?” she asked. “That ‘Saturday Night Live U.K.’ You know, my dream is that one day they do an impression of me.” It was a perfectly self-aware gag for a show that was, at that very moment, doing exactly that.
The real Gogglebox appearance saw Burnham become the first Prime Minister to appear on the Channel 4 show, joining his close friend Rotheram for a special edition in aid of Stand Up To Cancer. The pair were filmed drinking a pint of beer as they reacted to the week’s television, including quiz show Only Connect and the BBC’s The Celebrity Traitors.
Burnham even joked about his day job while attempting one of Only Connect’s puzzles, telling viewers: “I’ll be alright at the Budget, me.” On The Celebrity Traitors, he claimed politicians could “spot faithfuls and traitors a mile off.”
Prince William on Graham Norton and Celebrity Traitors Also Spoofed
The cold open’s tour of the week’s TV did not stop at Gogglebox. It also nodded to Prince William’s debut on The Graham Norton Show, where the future king revealed his childhood DJ ambitions, and to The Celebrity Traitors, which continues to dominate the national conversation.
It was a fitting cold open for the final SNL U.K. episode of 2026, hosted by Cynthia Erivo with Blossoms as musical guest. By anchoring the sketch in the week’s real television — a Prime Minister on the sofa, a prince on the chat show couch, and the nation’s favourite backstabbing game show — SNL U.K. delivered a summary of the week that felt unmistakably British.
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Source: Variety — read the full story there.
