The burlesque dancer who dressed up as John Howard at Bob Hawke's birthday party last night says her act was a perfect reflection of the "kinky, full of life" former Labor PM and his wife.

Mr Hawke's wife Blanche d'Alpuget spent weeks planning for dancer Gypsy Wood to jump out of a birthday cake dressed as John Howard and do a strip tease, as a surprise at Mr Hawke's 80th birthday bash.

Gypsy says the birthday boy got a total kick out of it.

"He loved it, absolutely loved it. Bob's a lot of fun and can take a joke," she told ABC News Online.

"I didn't just dress up as John Howard, I also burst out of a Labor ballot box and did a traditional strip tease.

"It's good because I'm not doing anything more explicit than a Kylie Minogue film clip on TV on Saturday morning. It's a beautiful form of entertainment that has survived many years.

"I think Bob is a real fan of that so it's a celebration of nostalgia.

"He's a silver fox. They're a great couple, I really enjoyed meeting them and working with Blanche over the past couple of weeks leading up to the performance and I'm really inspired by how kinky and intelligent and full of life they are.

"I think it's just fantastic of Blanche to be a rule-breaker and be rebellious and she's a very intelligent and sexy woman. Being politically informed and politically aware is also very sexy."

And according to Gypsy, Mr Hawke wasn't the only Labor figure getting into the spirit.

"As I looked into the room, the most positive energy that I was getting was from Bob and Blanche and Kevin Rudd," she said.

"Kevin Rudd was just absolutely cheering me on, enjoying it, laughing - he got all the jokes.

"When I performed as John Howard I came out to God Save the Queen because John wasn't really a fan of a republic and gushed over the Queen every chance he got.

"Then I performed and danced around sadly to Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word by Elton John.

"Then I did a strip tease which is my comment on how politicians are very similar to strippers and I just think strip tease and politics go together like icing on cake."

Mr Howard told media today there's no skin off his nose over the skit.

"I was certainly not offended. It was very gracious of Bob to invite me to his party, and I'm glad to know that after two years I still bug the Labor Party," he said.

Gypsy echoed that sentiment.

"In a way it's a tribute to him. He should be impressed that someone wants to dress up as him and dance around in a bikini," she said.

Gypsy says it wasn't the first time she's danced for Mr Rudd either, but last time he didn't quite get into the swing of things.

"I did strip for Kevin Rudd in the Chaser but he wasn't really excited about it that day - he ran away from us," she said.

Mr Rudd arrived late for his speech at the broadband forum in Sydney today, saying he hoped the affair would be more sedate than last night's bash.

"Which was uniquely accompanied by what can only be described as a performance of the burlesque and a bikini-clad John Howard impersonator," he joked.

Gypsy says last night was all in good fun and there will be no scandalous stories threatening to come out of the woodwork later down the track.

"No scandal, I just think that they have a good marriage," she said.

"You can tell when a couple is in love and I certainly think that Blanche knows how to look after her husband. It's nice to see a couple at the age still enjoying life so much."

"The whole experience has made me really inspired a lot more in the Labor Party in general. I would have voted for Bob Hawke had I been old enough."