Strictly Come Dancing: The show’s over for Ed Balls

“I’ve learnt so much from him and my favourite bits were the training parts”.

“That figure has risen to nearly 40 per cent, it looks like the producers want to see the back of Balls”.

She admitted: “I can never watch them, the only one I’ve seen is the Charleston because I can’t watch myself”.

“Greg is one of those guys that is just a natural leader, the type of guy you wish was your big brother”.

The former MP, 49, is now negotiating his place in the live shows that will be staged across the country in January.

“I scheduled lots of press appointments following the release of my book this year for mid-November because I didn’t think we would get this far in the competition”.

“Of course there’s a lot better dancers”.

“The reality is I think that the British public would get pretty exhausted if it was a Jeremy Vine situation and he wasn’t getting better every week, or it was a kind of Ann Widdecombe situation”.

Some have speculated Mr Balls could now launch a career in light entertainment in a similar fashion to ex Tory MP Michael Portillo but others suggested a return to the Commons could be on the cards.

“He was the person I thought would give the best embrace at that point, he gives good hugs”.

As he made his exit, winning a standing ovation from the judges and his fellow competitors, Twitter erupted with messages of praise from his new fans and his political peers, including the former prime minister David Cameron, who tweeted: “Well done @edballs – we’re very proud of you!”

But tonight he and his dance partnet Katya Jones were finally defeated by Judge Rinder and Oksana Platero in the dance-off.

His ejection came after show bosses were accused of staging a plot to get rid of the ex-politician by organising a Cha Cha Challenge, as well as the usual routine. “I’ve had a wonderful time”.

When Evans asked broadcaster Jeremy Paxman, stage star Elaine Paige and Madness frontman Suggs to pretend to be judges and for Bussell to be head, the former prima ballerina voted Balls “out”.

The former shadow chancellor, 49, said that it felt “like a victory to me, not a defeat” to leave the competition as “the people’s champion”, having failed to impress the judges by prancing the tango like the paunchy progeny of Mick Jagger and Derek Zoolander. We have a tie situation here. “Is he through to the next week or is he off the show?”

He continued: “It’s one dance at a time, and we don’t feel like stopping, but I would love to get a 7 from Craig (Revel Horwood), or a 30 from all the judges”.