6 Surprising Things We Learned From Theresa May's The One Show Interview

Theresa May appeared on the BBC's The One Show last night (of all places), alongside her husband Philip, and their interview was quite something.

The pair clearly considered their slot on the tea-time show as an opportunity to "connect" with those pesky hard-to-reach voters, saying just enough about their relationship to pique our interest, but not quite enough to reveal anything of substance. Here are the most interesting things we learned from the prime minister's first foray into light entertainment.

Yeah, this didn't go down too well on social media. When asked how the couple divided up chores around the home, her husband, a financial executive, said: “Well it’s a good question. There’s give and take in every marriage. I get to decide when to take the bins out, not if I take the bins out.” The PM chimed in: "There's boy jobs and girl jobs you see." To which Philip replied: “I definitely do the taking the bins out, I do the traditional boy jobs by and large.”

Aside from the infantilising language, the nod to traditional gender roles smacked of something from a 1960s chat show. Twitter users were incensed, with Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale saying the comment made her despair.

The couple don't do everything by the gender-stereotypical playbook, however, with Philip saying, "If you're the kind of man who expects his tea to be on the table at six o'clock every evening, you could be a little bit disappointed" in the relationship.

The pair were introduced at a student disco while at Oxford University by mutual friend Benazir Bhutto, the future prime minister of Pakistan (failing to clarify that it was held by the university's Conservative society). "I thought 'What a lovely girl' – it was love at first sight," said Philip. "Likewise," the prime minister added. How romantic.

May revealed that the couple, who don't have children, were once the victims of false reporting. When she was first selected to stand as a Conservative MP, a local newspaper claimed it might be difficult for her to stand because the couple had a new baby. Her mother-in-law apparently rang them hoping there was happy news. "So she was disappointed," May admitted.

May said that while she had wanted to be an MP since she was a child, it wasn't her lifelong dream to be prime minister. But Philip revealed his wife had in fact been harbouring prime ministerial ambitions for a pretty long time, since she joined the shadow cabinet in 1999. We bet he got a bollocking for letting that one slip.

May is well known for her love of fashion and leopard-print shoes (thanks, Daily Mail) and, according to her, they've been more influential than we might have assumed. When asked the oft-repeated question of whether her love of fashion is a help or hindrance, she recalled meeting a young woman in the House of Commons lift. After admiring each other's shoes, the woman apparently admitted it was May's interest in shoes that got her into politics.

Perhaps the most important revelation of the interview – we're not leaving the Eurovision song contest because of Brexit. Hurrah! When asked the all-important question of whether we'd be leaving, she replied: "No. Although I'm tempted to say in the current circumstances I'm not sure how many votes we will get." We wonder if she'll be tuning in on Saturday.