Breakfast put Emma Roberts and Andy Burnham at the centre of its Wednesday, July 29, interview with the Swansea chaplain who has gone viral for a likeness to Andy Burnham. Roberts now uses the name Mandy Burnham on TikTok, where the comparison has taken off far faster than it did in everyday life.
She said the comments started only about two weeks ago, after she had been on TikTok for about three months, and that she now has around 2,000 followers. Roberts also said the attention reached a new level when she found herself on the front page of The Sun.
Emma Roberts on TikTok
Roberts said the comparison is a TikTok thing, not something people in real life say. Asked about the reaction, she said: “Nobody in real life thinks I look like the prime minister. So, this is a TikTok thing.”
She added that the platform’s pace helped push the joke along. “I think it's part of the algorithm you know, everyone gets excited and somebody says, 'You look like Andy Burnham.' I couldn't get a word in edge ways.”
Roberts also described how quickly the online identity grew. “I make all of this quite serious and earnest content, you know, about politics and religion, and I couldn't get a word in edge ways. People kept on saying I look like Andy Burnham, and that was only about two weeks ago. So, it's all just kind of exploded since then.”
Breakfast on Wednesday
Sally Nugent and Jon Kay hosted the Breakfast segment that aired on Wednesday, July 29. The same episode also saw John Maguire look back on Top of the Pops, while Sally Nugent and Jon Kay revealed the most watched film and TV shows in 2025.
The Roberts interview became the part that drew the strongest reaction from some viewers. Some Breakfast viewers complained that the segment was not newsworthy, while others found Roberts amusing and likable.
Mandy Burnham on One
Roberts’ appearance turned a local social-media joke into a TV discussion item, with her TikTok name now tied to the Andy Burnham resemblance. She said the attention is “all gone a bit crazy,” and that she was on the front page of The Sun.
For viewers, the story ended with Roberts already having a new online identity and a larger audience than before. The unanswered part is how the Andy Burnham comparison first started spreading on TikTok, even as the segment showed how quickly a small online gag can move onto Breakfast and provoke a backlash.
