Politicians beware – any gaffe you make will be picked up by US comedy show host John Oliver.

The beloved host of Last Week Tonight this week had his sights set on New Zealand leader John Key, who is currently embroiled in a hair-pulling scandal.

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Mr Key was forced to apologise last week after months of repeatedly pulling the ponytail of a waitress at a cafe he frequented with his wife.

Introducing New Zealand as a country “whose major form of transportation is bungee jumping”, Oliver said it had been a “spectacular week” for Mr Key.

He hailed a Sky News report of the story which involved “the Prime Minister, a ponytail and some pinot noir” as “the single greatest” news tease he’d ever heard.

“Just take a moment right now at home and imagine a story in which those three things come together, and I guarantee you what you’ve just come up with is a lot less weird than what actually happened,” Oliver said.

The waitress said she repeatedly told Mr Key to stop bothering her, which included instances where he said her ponytail was “very tantalising”.

“If you’re a full grown adult male,” Oliver said, “there’s a very short list of things you can describe as tantalising without creeping out everyone.”

“There is steak – and that is absolutely it! That’s it! That’s the only thing!”

The Englishman also found it amusing that Mr Key apologised to the waitress by giving her a bottle of wine.

“You can’t pull someone’s hair for months and then offer them a bottle of wine.”

“You are the Prime Minister of New Zealand not a Real Housewife of New Jersey.

“John Key can’t pass any dangling hair without pawing at it. He’s more cat than prime minister at this point.”