Nocturnal 
Rory Stewart has finally addressed the moment he became an accidental internet sensation this week, after footage of him swivelling round to stare intently at a fellow Newsnight guest spread across social media.
The former Tory MP and Rest Is Politics podcaster appeared on the BBC show on Wednesday evening to discuss the UK’s growing reliance on US and Chinese AI software. Partway through the segment, he turned sharply in his seat and fixed his gaze on New Statesman political editor Ailbhe Rea for several long seconds before eventually looking away.
Ms Rea didn’t react at all. The internet, on the other hand, went into overdrive.
How the clip blew up
A short clip of the head-turn was shared widely overnight, racking up jokes from users comparing Stewart’s expression to everything from a kid waiting on ice cream money to someone spotting a packet of Wagon Wheels in a board meeting.
Even JK Rowling weighed in, joking on social media: “Someone whispered to him right before the show started, ‘remember to look interested when the woman’s talking, Rory.'”
Stewart, though, was completely oblivious to all of it. In a video posted afterwards, he explained he’d been away and largely offline when the clip took off.
“I’ve missed almost all of this because I was on an army base and I’ve been away – and under strict instructions from my family I have disabled social media on this phone.”
He then signed off the clip by saying “I guess all I can do is this” – before recreating the now-infamous head swivel in the back of a car, taking the joke in good spirits.
Newsnight host’s version of events
Adding another twist to the story, Newsnight presenter Matt Chorley later suggested he may have inadvertently set the whole thing in motion.
Chorley revealed he’d encouraged guests to create a memorable moment to mark the programme’s first episode in its new 7pm slot, joking: “Anything that can be used to go viral, maybe a punchup or whatever, a tiff at the table, if you want to do that, that’d be great.”
Despite that, Chorley insisted he hadn’t clocked anything unusual happening live in the studio. “I didn’t notice Rory looking particularly intently at anyone during the course of the programme,” he said, according to The Guardian.
He added that it wasn’t until friends and family who don’t normally watch the show started sending him clips that he realised what had happened.
Where things stand now
Nobody, including Stewart himself, has offered a firm explanation for the stare – whether it was simply an awkward attempt to look engaged during a live panel discussion or something else entirely remains a mystery. Stewart has taken the meme status in good humour rather than getting defensive about it.
For now, the clip continues to circulate online, with Stewart’s own recreation of the moment only adding fuel to the joke.
