Ed Balls says he may waltz his way back into politics after public’s support for him on Strictly Come Dancing
ED Balls has hinted at a sensational political comeback following the public’s huge support for him on Strictly.
And after winning over millions with his whole-hearted routines, Ed, 49, has not ruled out a return to Westminster.
In an exclusive interview, he told The Sun: “There’s been a massive change in 18 months for me — from losing a public vote to winning all these public votes.
“If I had set out for a political comeback I’m not sure I’d have channelled Zoolander.
“I’m not sure I would have done Gangnam or Great Balls of Fire. It’s such a weird time.
“You never say never. People have seen how I have done this for three months after being a politician for 20 years — entertaining people and having a good time.
“There was no plan or plot, but who knows?”
The former Shadow Chancellor is no longer an MP after losing his seat at last year’s General Election.
Despite this, bookies have now slashed the odds of him replacing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn after the next election to 50/1.
Ed was finally voted off the BBC1 show by the panel last weekend after a dance-off with Judge Rinder.
At the start of the series Ed was mocked for his “dad moves” — but he became so popular that an extra 500,000 people tuned in just to watch his performance each week.
He revealed the secret to his success was “embracing his inner-camp” after the first couple of weeks.
This saw pro-dancer Katya Jones, 26, mock him up as a mad scientist for Halloween, a male model, Jim Carrey’s The Mask and take on a hilarious cover of Psy’s Gangnam Style.
Ed added: “I’ve always had a fun, slightly camp side. But those are things people don’t see when you are a politician.
“It was a big wow to me as well because not only did I not know I could channel my inner camp side, but I didn’t know it was needed.
“Judge Darcey Bussell said to me you’ve got to get into character. People told me you’ve got to let go now and get over it.
“Our performances were exuberant, camp and a bit wild, but we loved it.
“Each week Katya would say show me some moves and I would try them.
“She would say that bears no resemblance to the dance but I’ll see how we can fit it in. These dances had all bits of me in it.” The Sun revealed on Saturday how BBC bosses had wanted Ed ejected.
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Former Strictly pro-dancer James Jordan accused the Beeb of trying to influence the public vote.
But Ed said of the judges: “I think they’ve been fair. Their job is to work on the dance quality and the public have their say.
“Chris Evans was pushing and pushing and pushing.
If I had one frustration it’s that we found we never got rid of the label of novelty act
“In the moment Darcey gave an answer and she had to.” Asked if he knew the judges would give him the boot once he was named in the dance off, he sighed and said: “Yes.
“Katya and I threw ourselves into it but we knew we had one last dance.
“If I had one frustration it’s that we found we never got rid of the label of novelty act.
“I wanted to take it seriously and spent hours rehearsing.
“I wanted to be entertaining and fun but taken seriously.”
Ed had his problems — forgetting to catch Katya during a rehearsal and almost dropping her during a lift while performing a live routine.
He recalled: “She went back thinking I was going to catch her and there was a wallop.
“I was talking to someone else and didn’t know what she was doing.
“That was bad. It was totally my fault and I felt awful.
She went back thinking I was going to catch her and there was a wallop
“On the lift that everyone remembers for going wrong, we had nailed it every time previously.
“It was just the outfits meant it was slippery, but I managed to hold on. It got us a lot of votes and was a great PR strategy in the end.”
He added: “The show won’t be the same if you don’t have people like me, Greg Rutherford and Judge Rinder who have never done anything like it before and start from scratch.
“My problem was I didn’t get better fast enough compared to Danny Mac, Ore Oduba and Louise Redknapp.”
“If I’ve worked hard, Ore and Danny have worked even harder.
“Danny was a good dancer at the beginning but his Samba (last weekend) was absolutely fantastic. He’s become a great dancer.”
Ed, who is flying out to the US to carry out lectures at Harvard University this week, added he wouldn’t have done the show if it wasn’t for his wife, Labour MP Yvette Cooper. He revealed: “My family have loved it. When the BBC came to me in May, I said they’ve asked me to do Strictly but of course I’m not going to do it.
“Yvette said ‘I think you should — what a fabulous thing to do’. She said ‘I’d love to do it, can you go and do it for me?’”
Yvette was in the audience to see her husband in the dance-off.
He added: “She was there at the end and when the guys lifted me up in the air it was fantastic. Without her I couldn’t have done it.”
We'll gang up on tour
STRICTLY’S tour is poised to have Ed Balls’ Gangnam Style as its headline act.
Ed confirmed The Sun’s exclusive that he is in advanced talks to join the live shows in January.
It means he will be performing the iconic dance, viewed online more than four million times, in front of 70,000 spectators at London’s 02.
He said: “I think it would be a good finish to my Strictly experience and I’m really hopeful I’ll be travelling around the country.
“Who knows what I’m doing, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the producers want us to do Gangnam.”
The tour kicks off in Birmingham on January 20 and visits Newcastle, Sheffield, Glasgow, Nottingham, Leeds, Liverpool and London.
Makeover move
ED Balls revealed he is to undergo a makeover after shedding the pounds on Strictly.
The former Shadow Chancellor lost a stone-and-a-half during his 14 weeks in the competition.
Now his MP wife Yvette Cooper is planning to take him clothes shopping after complaining that all his outfits are either suits or tight-fitting exercise kit. Ed said: “I never embraced leisurewear. She’s quite impressed as we went out yesterday and I wore a slightly smart leather coat and a jumper.”
Asked whether Yvette would be shopping for his new look, Ed joked: “For the first time in my life, I might even let her.”