Strictly Come Dancing 2016: Ed Balls confirms he is having a mid-life crisis

One that he is fully embracing

Laura Whitmore and Ed Balls (Getty Images)

For anyone wondering what could compel a politician to throw caution to the wind and relaunch their career with an appearance on Strictly Come Dancing, Ed Balls can explain.

The answer is as many suspected: a midlife crisis.

Mr Balls, the former Labour cabinet minister whose legacy will forever be overshadowed by the eponymous tweet he accidentally sent on that fateful day, has been criticised for his decision to join the show, with more unforgiving commentators branding the move “tragic”.

But he is determined to make the most of his new-found passion and waltzed down the red carpet with Laura Whitmore in tow at the official Strictly red carpet launch.

“Definitely a mid-life crisis, but I think you’ve got to embrace it and enjoy it,” he told BBC Radio Four’s Today programme.

“I’m quite worried about the jive because my hips don’t really move in quite the right way, but I have a great professional partner, and I have three weeks to train. “But it’s a chance to say that politics is about human beings, and that those of us that come out of politics, in my sort of retirement phase, can do things that are quite exciting.

“We’ll get to see whether I can do something big again in the future, but in the mean time, what could possibly be bigger than going on Strictly?”