Andy Burnham says he fears becoming a 'meme on Twitter' as he prepares to take to the ballroom dancefloor for a charity competition.
"I don’t want to fall over or drop my partner," he laughs. "That’s my worst fear. My wife Marie-France laughs every time we talk about me doing this. My kids are unsure what to expect too but I fully expect to make Ed Balls look good." Asked who his dance style was reminiscent of, Andy muses: "Definitely not Ed!" When Hollywood star Fred Astaire was suggested, he retorts: “I’m more like Bez from Happy Mondays."
When asked how he thinks he will look in Lycra or sequins, he groans: “I’ve no idea what I am wearing. Not becoming a meme on Twitter would be a victory for me! I fully expect to be bottom of the winner’s list and some humiliation, I just hope it’s not total.” Cells in the brain and nerves, called motor neurones, gradually stop working. The former athlete, 41, can no longer talk, walk or feed himself yet his brain remains as sharp as ever. MND is not yet curable but medication can delay death. Six people a day are diagnosed with it and six daily die from it.