EastEnders legend Natalie Cassidy stunned as she interviews Prime Minister: "I thought it was a joke"

Sonia Fowler interviewing the Prime Minister was not on our 2026 bingo card, and it wasn't on actor Natalie Cassidy's either. The EastEnders star sat down with Andy Burnham on her podcast, Life with Nat, to speak to the politician about his plans for a National Care Service.

Burnham also opened up about losing his dad, with the recording taking place just days after his father's funeral.

Reflecting on the chat, Cassidy described how she thought it was "a joke" that she had landed Burnham as a guest.

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Welcoming him to the podcast, she said: "Tell me, because when I got the email to say this was going to happen, firstly I thought it was a joke, and then I thought, why on earth would the Prime Minister want to talk to me? Why did you want to?"

He responded: "Because of what you have done in relation to your commitment to care and exploring the issues in relation to it. Raising the profile of all of those things.

"I'm fascinated by your, well, and the same that I share, my passion for seeing care and carers just having all of the issues they face talked about more. So I think that's why we're here."

She thanked Burnham for sitting down with her, calling it a "complete honour".

The pair spoke about the state of the NHS and better pay for carers, while Burnham also spoke about the death of his father that coincided with him becoming Prime Minister.

"You've landed the biggest job in the country. You've moved, you've relocated, and you've had a huge loss. I am very, very sorry, but you had two days off, and now you're here with me after the funeral. How are you feeling?" Cassidy asked him.

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"I said last week, I don't want to seek sympathy through it, you know, because I don't know. You know, I've got a big job to do and I am focused on it," he responded.

Cassidy pointed out he was "a human being as well" as being the country's leader, to which Burnham responded: "It's been hard just because, when I walked up that street for the first time to come into this place, I knew that my dad was reaching the end of his journey and it was hard and I… My mum was on the street.

"So the coming together of those two things has made what would have been a hard thing intensely hard at times. And particularly, actually, I found it most hard in many ways in the last few days. But I'm not saying it to seek sympathy."

He added: "I have drawn some power from it because I put that power into my conference speech."

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