Ed Balls admits he has the grace of ‘a slug’ on his squirming Strictly debut
Former MP left mortified at watching his dad dancing - as the show received a record number of viewers
ED Balls said he had the grace of a “slug” yesterday following his Strictly debut.
The ex-Shadow Chancellor, 49, said it was “pretty traumatic” watching back the replays of Saturday night’s launch show.
Ed revealed: “I mean look, maybe I will emerge from my chrysalis. But – or it may turn out that I was a slug all along.”
Strictly’s producers also warned him to keep his mouth shut – after singing along during his first dance.
Ed stomped around the dancefloor mistiming several moves in the contestant’s first group sequence.
Bosses and choreographers later gave him a ticking off after he was seen mouthing the lyrics to Ray Charles’ Shake Your Tail Feather from classic movie Blues Brothers throughout the routine.
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A source said: “Ed was out of time on several places and when they looked back you could see he was just singing along.
“He obviously did it because he was nervous, but he’s been told to keep it shut and focus on the dancing.
“Ed was pretty awful just romping around and he’s got a lot of work to do before the live shows.”
The Sun revealed that Ed said his wife MP Yvette Cooper, 47, and three kids said he looked like a “camp rugby player” and warned he would be “mincing around”.
But yesterday Ed, who was partnered with new pro dancer Katya Jones, said he looked like a waiter.
He explained: “I’m not sure I was more traumatised by my dad’s moves which looked rather more kind of dad-like than I expected, or the pictures of me with all these sparkling celebrities and me who looks like I’m about to serve people drinks in my bow-tie.”
Despite this he has already managed to win over voters and intends to take it all in his stride, joking with host Tess Daly that he was "used to being on the losing end of a vote" after losing his seat in the House of Commons in last year's general election.
The new series got off to a flying start with a record 10.1million tuning in to the show - leaving it's ITV rival The X Factor trailing behind at 8.7million.
Catch up with everything you've missed on Strictly with our special page here.
Strictly Come Dancing will return in three weeks time with a two episode spectacular, only on the BBC.
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