As Scots, we have Nicola Sturgeon to thank, or blame, for a whole range of new life experiences including the independence referendum, and the virtual wipeout of Labour in Scotland.
But as a fortysomething man who works during the day, I now have another new experience to thank, or blame, her for - having to sit through Loose Women.
I wasn't the only journalist going through it. In fact, before her guest slot on the daytime women's chat show, Sturgeon tweeted that she was amused at the thought of hardened hacks having to watch the programme. And there would have been one question on all their minds: why on earth is she doing Loose Women?
On the face of it, it's hard to understand, and her discomfort was obvious when she admitted she was ill at ease. "This is the scariest interview I've ever done," she said.
She needn't have worried though, because there weren't many searching questions. The topics of the day were: should men wear budgie smugglers, should you take a man back after an affair, and should there be another independence referendum. Sturgeon trotted out her stock answer to the last question (it is up to the people) but did not express a view on whether men should wear budgie smugglers (and I can't remember if it was in the White Paper on independence).
She then got on to the subject of what she's like when she's not doing politics, which is dangerous ground. Think of David Cameron saying he supported West Ham/East Ham/some football team or other. And Ed Miliband saying hell yeah, he could be tough. That's what happens when politicians try to be cool: they look like your dad moonwalking at a teenage disco.
Sturgeon avoided the problem, although we were told she likes The X Factor and that at home she likes to slob around in joggy bottoms. She also admitted to paying more attention to how she dresses and sounds (Sean Connery helped her with her voice, she said).
By the end of the show, it was hard to see what she was trying to achieve. Perhaps her advisors worry that, despite all her success, she seems to lack something her predecessor had in abundance: an obvious sense of humour. Loose Women didn't fix that problem, and it shouldn't matter. As Margaret Thatcher proved, you don't need a sense of humour to win lots of elections.
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