Ed Balls didn’t know how to channel his "inner camp side" until he appeared on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’.
The 49-year-old politician was booted off the ballroom and Latin show on Sunday (27.11.16) night but admitted he enjoyed showing off a different persona of himself and revealed he added personal touches into every one of his routines.
He said: "I’ve always had a fun, slightly camp side. But those are things people don’t see when you are a politician.
"It was a big wow to me as well because not only did I not know I could channel my inner camp side, but I didn’t know it was needed.
"Our performances were exuberant, camp and a bit wild, but we loved it.
"Each week Katya [Jones] would show me some moves and I would try them.
"She would say that bears no resemblance to the dance but I’ll see how we can fit it in. These dances had all bits of me in it."
Ed surprised many viewers by making it to Week 10 before he was booted off the show, but he was disappointed to be seen as a "novelty act" throughout his time on the show.
He said: "If I had one frustration it’s that we found we never got rid of the label of novelty act.
"I wanted to take it seriously and spent hours rehearsing. I wanted to be entertaining and fun but taken seriously."
While he put plenty of effort in rehearsing his routines, Ed admits he wasn’t as good as some of his fellow competitors, particularly Danny Mac, Ore Oduba and Louise Redknapp, who remain in the competition alongside Judge Rinder and Claudia Fragapane.
He added to The Sun newspaper: "My problem was I didn’t get better fast enough compared to Danny Mac, Ore Oduba and Louise Redknapp.
"If I’ve worked hard, Ore and Danny have worked even harder.
"Danny was a good dancer at the beginning but his Samba (last weekend) was absolutely fantastic. He’s become a great dancer."
Ed Balls channelled ‘camp side’ on Strictly
