Saturday 20 August 2022 07:43 PM Pop star, 28, filmed dancing with Finland's married 'party Prime Minister' ... trends now

The rock star who was secretly videoed dancing intimately with Finland's party-loving prime minister has insisted that they are not having an affair.

Olavi Uusivirta, 28, claimed that he and prime minister Sanna Marin, 36, were simply 'friends' and 'nothing inappropriate' had happened between them.

The footage which emerged on Friday showed the pair dancing hip-to-hip at 4am in a Helsinki nightclub just a stone's throw away from the country's Parliament building.

The grainy mobile phone video featured Ms Marin, who is married with a four-year-old daughter, draping her arms around the singer.

He was seen pressing his face against her neck at one point in the clip in a gesture that some elements of the Finnish media have claimed was a kiss.

Witnesses told Finnish media that she danced with another two men in similar fashion and sat on the laps of another two during the high-spirited night out.

But Finnish singer-songwriter Uusivirta who got divorced from his wife last year, dismissed any suggestion that he was in a relationship with his country's leader.

In a post on his social media accounts, he said: 'There has been speculation in the public about the quality of the relationship between me and prime minister Sanna Marin.

'Hand on heart I can just say it like it is: we are friends and nothing inappropriate has happened. I won't comment on the matter anymore publicly. Have a great weekend!'

Uusirvirta and Ms Marin were filmed on the dancefloor at Klubi nightclub which is part of the Ravintola Teatteri restaurant and bar complex in central Helsinki.

The nightspot is known as one of the trendiest in Finland's capital and attracts a well-heeled crowd of party lovers of all ages.

MailOnline can reveal that a lounge area where revellers can relax with drinks features a collection of erotic portraits of naked women on the walls.

The four full frontal paintings all feature natural-looking women, rather than skinny catwalk models, reflecting Finland's relaxed attitude to nudity.

Staff at the Teatteri today refused to comment about their prime minister's visit to the complex which was filmed in the early hours on August 7.

One waitress told a MailOnline reporter: 'Of course we are not saying anything. There is nobody here who will talk to you.

'We cannot confirm whether our prime minister was here. Anyway, how is your prime minister Boris Johnson?'

The new video is believed to have been filmed on the same night as earlier footage showing Ms Marin partying with celebrity friends in two apartments.

One of the videos raised eyebrows in Finland as it featured someone in the background shouting 'Flour Gang'.

The word 'flour's is often used as slang for cocaine in Finland. But Ms Marin has strongly denied ever taking drugs and said she saw no drugs on the night in question.

Fun-loving Ms Marin's appearance in the videos has sparked a debate in Finland about whether she should be out drinking and socialising with friends

Some commentators have accused her of behaviour which is unbecoming of a world leader, while others have pointed out that she might not have been capable of making proper decisions if an emergency had arisen during her party weekend.

But many are more relaxed and say that she deserves to let her hair down, like anyone else.

MailOnline can reveal that Uusirvirta and Ms Marin posed with three other women for a group picture at Helsinki's Flow music festival earlier this month.

The singer posted the picture on his Instagram account on August 12 with a message saying, 'Happy Flow' accompanied by three emojis of cherries.

His followers were quick to comment on the presence of the prime minister in a sparkly top standing alongside him in the image.

One said: 'A person has the right to go and spend time with their friends on the weekend, even if they are in high office.'

Another added: 'Sanna, you are a young woman… do what you will… you do a good job, then you can also have a lot of fun.'

But a third responded saying: 'I don't want to see the prime minister on Vogue's cover - on vacation – on festivals – party – in a glitter dress. I want to see the prime minister taking care of the affairs of the citizens of Finland.'

Ms Marin answered her critics by holding a press conference on Friday when she admitted that she had taken a drugs test to prove to her critics that she had not taken anything.

She insisted that 'everyone needs a fun and relaxed evening out' and that she should be allowed to enjoy herself after spending most of her time juggling the responsibilities of governing her country and being a mother.

Ms Marin also claimed that 'nothing inappropriate' had happened in the videos, and her only regret was that 'private' footage had made it into the public domain.

When it was put to her that she might have been required to respond to an emergency while out partying, she replied that her entire time in office has been spent in 'crisis' and she had never been called for a meeting in the middle of a Saturday night.

Questioned specifically about Finland's growing military threat from Russia, she said that her security services would have detected a troop build-up on the border ahead of time and informed her.

She insisted that she would have left the nightclub and gone to her desk, had it been required.

Ms Marin has consistently made a virtue of her 'normal person' image and claims to have received supportive messages from the public since the videos of her night out leaked.

Giving more details of her night out, she said that the evening had been spent in two separate flats with about twenty people, before they headed out into town and went to two bars.

The first videos to leak were from the houses of friends, including Finnish pop star Alma and her sister Anna, TikTok influencer Sabin Särkkä, rapper Petri Nygard, TV host Tinni Wikstrom, photographer and influencer Janita Autio, radio host Karoliina Tuominen, as well as MPs from Ms Marin's own Social Democratic party.

They show the group dancing to music, signing and posing provocatively. At one point, a voice can then be heard making a reference to 'flour gang'.

She is said to have arrived the Klubi nightlclub at around 2.30am and stayed in until 4.30am.

Ms Marin wed long-term partner Markus Raikkonen - a former footballer - in 2020. The couple's daughter was born two years earlier in 2018.

She was dubbed 'the coolest politician in the world' by German tabloid Bild just this week for her relaxed and down-to-earth style of leadership which some critics have slammed as 'careless'.

The paper described her as 'relaxed, modern and self-confident' but it added that she 'can also party'.

Ms Marin belongs to the 'cool generation' which Putin really doesn't like, Bild wrote.

Despite the incoming flak for the young prime minister, there are also those who see the videos as giving her a potential popularity boost for behaving the way many young

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