BALLS: I WON’T QUIT THE SHOW

STRICTLY underdog Ed Balls insists he will not “do a John Sergeant” and quit to allow a more talented dancer to win.

The ex Cabinet Minister regularly gets low marks from the judges but, like Sergeant in 2008, fans’ votes have kept him in and saved him from the dreaded dance offs.

The 49-year-old said: “People pay money to phone up and vote for Katya and I. To override that and say, ‘I know better, I’m leaving’, would be disrespectful and arrogant.

“The show has moved on now. People expect more dancing and wouldn’t have seen the joking around in the same way. I don’t see compare myself to him or Ann Widdecombe.

“I’m definitely not a pantomime act. I don’t just stand there while Katya dances around me.”

Yet despite his popularity, dad-of-three Ed, who performed a quickstep with Katya Jones last night, predicts he will be out by December.

He said: “They’ll come a point when the public will think, ‘We’ve really enjoyed you and you’ve tried really hard. But now it’s got to be about who’s the best dancer’.”

Meanwhile, the praise pours in for Ed. Head judge Len Goodman called him Strictly’s “best worst dancer, ex Labour leader Ed Miliband dubbed him “a national treasure, and fans of the show labelled him a “male Beyonce”.

Camp