Ed Balls has revealed that he’s taking a break from GMB (Image: ITV)Get daily celeb exclusives and behind the scenes house tours direct to your inboxMore Newsletters SubscribePlease enter a valid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later.More NewslettersWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More infoThank you for subscribing!We have more newslettersShow me See OurPrivacy Notice See OurPrivacy Notice×Group 28 Get daily celeb exclusives and behind the scenes house tours direct to your inboxInvalid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later.Sign UpNo thanks, closeWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info×Group 28Thank you for subscribing!We have more newslettersShow MeNo thanks, closeSee our
Privacy NoticeGood Morning Britain host Ed Balls has announced that he is taking a break from the ITV show after sparking over 8,000 Ofcom complaints. The ex Labour MP and Strictly Come Dancing star received public backlash earlier this month after interviewing MP Zarah Sultana and his wife, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on GMB, which he joined three years ago. The controversial interview saw Ed clash with Zarah over far-right activists, with some viewers accusing him of interrupting her answers. In the same episode, Ed and co-host Kate Garraway asked his wife Yvette whether officers had policed protests by far-right activists and pro-Palestine demonstrators differently. Many viewers branded the interview as “embarrassing to the extreme”, concerned with a “huge conflict of interest”. Ofcom later announced that the episode had attracted 8,201 complaints.
Ed Balls and Kate Garraway received backlash from viewers over their interviews with Zarah Cultana and Yvette Cooper
Read More
Related Articles
Good Morning Britain hit with over 15,000 Ofcom complaints as ITV show sparks backlash
Read More
Related Articles
Coronation Street fans do double take as they find out star has an identical twin
On Monday 12th August, Ed Balls announced that he was taking an extended break from Good Morning Britain in an Instagram post. He wrote: “What better way to celebrate the start of summer holidays than with a pavlova – our family favourite – loved working with Kate last week during such national turbulent times,” posting a picture of him holding a big pavlova. He continued: “I’m back with Susanna at the beginning of September when schools and Parliament return – see you soon.” The former politician also shared a photo of himself alongside Kate Garraway, who he has been presenting with over the last few weeks. While many fans were quick to wish him a good break, some were still angry with him interviewing tactics on the show. “So sad with your journalism – with Zarah Sultana / you’re better than this,” one viewer wrote on the post with a crying emoji. Another commented: “You and your co-presenter’s ‘treatment’ of Zara Sultana was simply awful.”
Zarah Sultana said that she experienced “the visceral denial of this reality” on Good Morning Britain
(Image: PA Wire/PA Images)
In the interview with MP Zarah Sultana, both Ed and Kate urged her to respond directly to their questions. When she responded with: “I’m going to wait for Kate to finish her question if that’s all right,” she was interrupted by the former politician, who said: “If you want to answer the questions, it’s your call.” Defending his 2010 Guardian piece “We were wrong to allow so many eastern Europeans into Britain”, Ed noted her shift from targeting Daily Mail columnist Andrew Pierce to himself. After the interview, Zarah took to social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, posting a segment of her GMB appearance, stating: “The media and political class is complicit in the far-right, racist and Islamophobic violence we’re witnessing across our country. This morning, I experienced the visceral denial of this reality.”Story SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnGood Morning BritainStrictly Come DancingKate Garraway
