Strictly Come Dancing 2016 line-up: BBC confirms Ed Balls in the only way it could

Ed Balls

Ed Balls had been hotly rumoured to be taking to the Strictly Come Dancing dancefloor (Getty)

Ed Balls is the first celebrity to be confirmed to don his sequins and dancing shoes for this year’s Strictly Come Dancing.

The former Shadow Chancellor and Labour MP for Morley and Outwood is a favourite on social media after famously tweeting his own name by mistake on 28 April 2011. Ed Balls Day is celebrated annually, with Balls even baking an impressive cake to mark the occasion this year. As such, the BBC announced the news in the only way it could, by simply tweeting “Ed Balls”.

Balls, 49, told Chris Evans on BBC Radio 2 this morning that he is “scared to death” about competing in the hugely popular ballroom competition but hopes to get through the first couple of weeks before being voted off.

“I’d like to say I'm just really excited about learning to dance on TV, but the truth is I’m also scared to death,” he said. “Making a speech in Parliament seems a piece of cake compared to this, but hopefully I can stick around for a couple of weeks, and have a lot of fun in the process.

“Strictly is a firm favourite in our living room, and it feels like a dream to be going on myself, especially for Len’s last series. I’m just hoping it doesn't turn into a nightmare too quickly!”

Evans followed up the announcement with a spin of “Great Balls of Fire” by Jerry Lee Lewis, just to get us even more excited.

Balls will be the first male politician to compete on the show, bar a one-off Christmas special appearance by former Liberal Democrat MP Vince Cable. Politicians Edwina Currie and Ann Widdecombe have both waltzed in a bid to win the coveted Glitter Ball trophy in past series but, perhaps unsurprisingly, no politician has ever won.

Balls was first tipped for Strictly after losing his seat as an MP at the general election, but his wife, former shadow home secretary and current MP Yvette Cooper, ruled him out, joking at a press lunch that it would clash with “filming in the jungle”.

Cooper said in 2014 that she would love to join Strictly herself, despite having “cloggy time-step” and tweeted earlier that she is “so so envious” of her husband.

Balls used to play competitively in the MPs versus journalists football matches and has been snapped dancing like nobody’s watching at Labour Party events, but said last year that he does not think he is “quite equipped” for the physical demands of the series.

“Three marathons means I’m fit but am I really fit enough for Strictly?” he said. “When you look at it, the people who succeed on Strictly tend to be half my age and to have played international sport or been at stage school and on the stage.”.

Other celebrities rumoured to be joining Balls include TV presenter Laura Whitmore, Eternal singer Louise Redknapp, Birds of a Feather actor Lesley Joseph and X Factor winner Will Young.

Strictly Come Dancing returns this autumn on BBC One.