David Cameron’s Heat Magazine interview: Here’s everything we didn’t want to know
With the polls showing Labour neck and neck, neither of the party leaders can afford missed beats or wasted interviews.
To that end, David Cameron decided to let Heat magazine's editor-in-chief, Lucie Cave, into the heart of Downing Street for a grilling that would put Paxo to shame.
Here's a sample of what we found out – but really didn't need to – about Britain's most powerful man.
Spiders and rats: Cameron's kitchen nightmares
Asked if he had any phobias, the PM said: "I’m not very keen on rats. We had one in our kitchen once, it came in through the cat flap, it was horrible, and I kind of found it in the middle of the night."
But in a revelation a little too candid even for the chillaxed PM, he added:
Well, I’d like to say I stripped down to the waist and wrestled it and threw it out there but I didn’t.
However, the PM is better when facing his arachnid opponents. “If there’s a spider in the bath, send for me,” said Cameron.
PM fears killing crocs
Not ready to let turn the conversation away from unpleasant creatures, Cameron recounted his experience with a baby amphibian:
I actually had to hold a baby crocodile the other day, I didn’t like that. There was a camera on so I had to go, "Oh this is lovely", but I was really worried I was squeezing it so tightly that actually I was going to kill it, because the guy said to me, "if this bites you, you know, you will draw blood" and I said "oh really?"
Multi-tasking is still not a man's thing
If there is one gender stereotype the progressive Tory is still willing to hold on to, it's that of men being incapable of multi-tasking.
“I’m a man, I can’t do two things at once. Don’t be ridiculous,” he told Heat. “I cannot listen to music and run. I don’t know how people do it.”
But he still has a shy side
Politicians should be used to being in the public eye and from what most of us can see they don't resent it but relish it. But when it comes to going on summer holidays, even the most seasoned cynics may have a morsel of sympathy with the party leaders. Cave asked the PM "do you hate it when the papers have your holiday pics?"
“The holiday snaps is an occupational hazard. I’d prefer it if they took ones when my t-shirt was on than off, but that’s my lookout," Cameron replied. Asked if he would emulate Tony Blair and win Heat's torso of the week, the PM wasn't so hopeful.
"No, I will never be a contender, there is no chance of that. I try to go for a run two or three times a week, about a two-mile run, I’ve got some circuits outside I do."