You’ve been TangoEd Ed’s fight as Darcey calls for axe

STRICTLY’S Ed Balls lived up to his word last night – entertaining fans with a unique version of the tango.

The former Shadow Chancellor, 49, teased fans beforehand, saying he would be channelling Zoolander.

Ed, who this week faced calls for the chop by judge Darcey Bussell, 47, said: “I’ve been working on Blue Steel,” before joking: “The only thing I can model is contact lenses.”

SATISFACTION

Wearing a suave leather jacket and stroking his slick hair, his routine to (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones involved a mock photoshoot with partner Katya Jones, 27.

Viewers are big fans of Ed, despite his low scores from the judges – who last night put him bottom again on 23 points. But fellow contestant Judge Rinder has jumped to his defence.

The TV barrister, 38, who performed the rumba with partner Oksana Platero, 28, last night, said: “He’s come out and tried his hardest and improved.”

Torso-flashing Rinder added that the series was “an entertainment show as much as a dance show”. He also revealed he was suffering a form of anxiety for the first time: “Every Saturday, I have stage fright to the point of terror. I just tend to go quiet.

“They put lots of rhinestones on my shirts. If you look closely, when I’m really nervous, I start to pick them off.”

He added: “If you’d asked me a year ago if I’d get emotional about a friend, like Greg, leaving Strictly I’d say, ‘Stop being such a ninny’.”

Judge Rinder’s support for Ed comes after Darcey admitted she would vote him out if it were down to her. And ex- MP Ann Widdecombe, 69, on Strictly in 2010, said she believed the BBC might give more power to judges to ensure Ed won’t win.

But Ed’s fans soon took to Twitter. One said: “I hope Ed gets through. Judges have no right to say they want him out.” Another said: “Ignore the haters… you are brilliant in Strictly.”

Ed brushed it all off, saying: “If the public want you back, the respectful thing is to do your best again.”