David Seymour set hearts racing last night on Dancing with the Stars NZ, with a routine heavy on twerking - a suggestive dance move made famous by Miley Cyrus.
The ACT Party leader has defended the saucy routine, saying he's not losing focus of his role as a sitting MP.
"The rules of the competition say they give you an outfit, a song and a style of dance, and I think we did a pretty good chance of keeping it classy under the circumstances," he says.
People in his electorate of Epsom were largely supportive of their local representative, whose taxpayer-funded pay-packet is around $180,000 per year.
"I don't particularly like the guy, but I'm not going to bag him for putting himself out there - I think he's doing good," one told Newshub.
"Strangely enough, more people want to come up to me over Dancing with the Stars than the national debt," says Mr Seymour.
"Funny that - but if it means I'm closer to the people I represent, then so be it."
Since dance training began in early April, he's been juggling his Parliament duties in Wellington with being a contestant on the show, which films in Auckland.
As the leader of a party of one, Mr Seymour has an agreement with the Speaker which allows him to take 25 percent of sitting days off to conduct business around the country.
So far, he hasn't gone over that threshold.
"What I am doing is sacrificing a little bit of sleep," he says. "But hey, that's just like an election campaign."
He points out he's donating his entire appearance fee to his chosen charity Kidsline, and remains adamant his twerk isn't getting in the way of his work.
Newshub.
