‘I didn’t start it, Miss’: UK PM Starmer apologises after doing viral ‘6-7’ dance in school visit

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer joked in a social media post on Nov 25 that he had put himself in detention, after he did a viral dance with pupils during a school visit.

The light-hearted quip followed his actions at Welland Academy in Peterborough, which is 119km north of London.

Mr Starmer, who was at the school on Nov 24 with Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson to promote the expansion of a free school meals programme, had spontaneously performed the playground craze that the teachers there have been trying to stamp out.

While reading with a group of primary school pupils, one child pointed out that they were on page 67.

Without missing a beat, the Prime Minister made the juggling hand gesture tied to the viral “6-7” meme, setting off a ripple of laughter across the classroom, reported British media outlets BBC and The Independent.

A teacher swiftly reminded him that the fad was off-limits on campus.

“You know, children get into trouble for saying that in school,” she told Mr Starmer. “We are not over that yet – the 6-7 is still very much a thing.”

As he stepped out of the room, Mr Starmer remarked to head teacher Jo Anderson that it had been “a bit wild”, before he was informed that the dance was banned outright at the school.

He immediately apologised, falling back on the age-old student defence: “I didn’t start it, Miss.”

He later posted a video of the moment on Instagram, captioning it: “I think I just got myself put in detention…”

The “6-7” phrase – which first took off among Generation Alpha – has grown into a full-fledged internet phenomenon and was even

crowned Dictionary.com’s Word of the Year for 2025

.

Its accompanying dance has swept through classrooms across Britain, puzzling parents and exasperating teachers.

Dictionary.com traces the meme to Doot Doot (67), a track by US rapper Skrilla that exploded on TikTok and other platforms, where the phrase was used to comment on basketball players’ height.

The craze surged again earlier in 2025 when American teenager Maverick Trevillian became known as the “6-7 kid” after a clip of him shouting the phrase and performing the gesture at a basketball game racked up more than 7.7 million views on YouTube.

Its precise meaning remains elusive, though some interpret it as expressing something “so-so” or indecisive.