Ed gets browned off by Strictly
Ed Balls has almost been persuaded to get a fake tan as Strictly Come Dancing takes him ever further from his “comfort zone”.
The ex-shadow chancellor made a lumbering Strictly debut last weekend and is now in training for the live shows with his professional partner Katya Jones.
Asked if he would adopt a dance- friendly orange glow, he said: “I’m a bit squeamish but Katya says it’s imperative.”
“I am so far outside my comfort zone. Every time I hit a barrier of what I think is socially acceptable, I have to make another leap.”
Balls admitted he had already been defeated in his bid to veto “glitter and spangles”.
He said: “There have been so many times when I’ve said to someone, ‘I can’t do that. It’s too camp.’
“The reply is, ‘ This is Strictly. Nothing can ever be too camp.’”
He added: “I’ve discovered why people’s shirts don’t fall out on the show. You stitch them on to your boxers so that your shirt and pants are all one garment.
“I’m going to wear one for the rest of my life. It solves a fundamental problem.”
Balls, 49, has the support of his Labour MP wife Yvette Cooper – but it was his kids who prepared him for the Strictly experience.
He said: “The two oldest ones came to my dressing room and I showed them my moves. They laughed so much that I got an inkling of what the audience reaction would be.”