Chancellor Rishi Sunak has revealed that he is an “enormous fan” of the raunchy Netflix period drama Bridgerton.
In an interview with the Radio Times, Mr Sunak added that he had spent “a lot of time watching” the smash-hit show, while admitting that his viewing habits are “not quite the same” as those of his senior government colleagues.
The chancellor added: “Like Emily In Paris, I’m not sure how many others watched that. I’ll check.”
Nicola Coughlan as Penelope Featherington in Bridgerton. Pic: Netflix
Bridgerton, which was created by world-famous TV producer Shonda Rhimes, started streaming in December, and quickly became one of Netflix‘s most watched shows ever.
A second series is currently being filmed.
As well as discussing his favourite shows, Mr Sunak also talked about what he would watch on TV as a child.
“We were never allowed to eat in the sitting room, but Saturday nights were the exception,” he said.
“We would spread a plastic picnic blanket out and I’d go with my dad to pick up either Pizza Hut or KFC from Portswood in Southampton, and we – Mum, Dad and my younger brother and sister – would eat on this picnic mat and watch The A-Team, Baywatch and Blind Date, which were on one after the other.
“That was a special part of our growing up.”
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Elsewhere in his wide-ranging interview, he described the country’s creative industries as “one of the UK’s crown jewels”, adding: “It’s something we do better than most other countries; we export it round the world.
“We should be enormously proud of it, and it’s part of our soft power and brand. Brand Britain.”
Mr Sunak added he also wanted the BBC to “take every step possible” to learn the lessons following the fallout over the Dyson report, which found that Martin Bashir convinced Diana, Princess Of Wales to give an interview under false pretences.
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Martin Bashir: ‘I never wanted to harm Diana’
He does say though that he is a “fan” of the corporation, adding: “It probably comes from living in the States for a very long time.
“When you’re abroad, the BBC is your connection with home.
“I was living thousands of miles away in California, and the BBC was still my homepage. There’s an emotional attachment to it.”