Ed Balls.
He is a prominent member of the Labour Party, Yvette Cooper MP’s significant other, the former Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the current Chairman of Norwich City Football Club, and yet despite all that, Ed Balls is perhaps most famous for being, well…Ed Balls.
That is to say, he is widely known for accidentally tweeting his own name from his personal Twitter account on April 28 2011, when he meant to search for himself on the social medium. The tweet was shared by tens of thousands of people and now April 28 is ‘Ed Balls Day’.
Ed Balls
— Ed Balls (@edballs) April 28, 2011
But that internet notoriety is set to be eclipsed as Balls is a participant on the 14th series of Strictly Come Dancing. He has been paired up with Russian dancer Katya Jones, and is joined by fellow celebrities Daisy Lowe, Greg Rutherford, Louise Redknapp and Will Young.
To say that viewers were excited/intrigued to watch Balls cutting some rug on the BBC’s flagship light entertainment show is something of an understatement. After all, their appetites had already been wetted with footage of the former MP boogying away at a Labour event a few years ago…
We honestly can't wait to see this on #Strictly on Saturday @edballs!https://t.co/o8pUlPQUSz
— The Brightside (@TheBrightsideHP) September 1, 2016
https://twitter.com/MxJackMonroe/status/770942892475056128
But his actual performance on Saturday night was a thing to behold. Kitted out like an extra-glittery Jacamo model, he was like a cross between David Brent and your dad on holiday after one too many pints. We’re not sure whether most of this was choreographed or spontaneous, but it was something else…
this is why restraining orders were introduced … #Strictly https://t.co/UhoZ2DWRnP
— Stewart Weir (@sweirz) September 3, 2016
Some things, once seen, can never be unseen.#SCD
😳 pic.twitter.com/GXU9LIFdQZ— Gaz Weetman (@GazWeetman) September 3, 2016
https://twitter.com/Holbornlolz/status/772151441565716480
Someone arrest this man, he's stolen my moves https://t.co/8kAuD8W3gp
— Alan White (@aljwhite) September 3, 2016
As for future weeks, the mind boggles. He may be trying to emulate John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, but for us at least he brings to mind a very drunk Oliver Reed on Michael Aspel’s chat show back in the day. Ed Balls, never stop being Ed Balls.
