ITV presenter Ed Balls has addressed his future on breakfast series GMB following “turbulent times” recently.
Former MP Ed, 57, came under fire from viewers last week after he and co-host Kate Garraway interviewed Home Secretary Yvette Cooper over scenes of civil unrest.
Accusations of a “conflict of interest” were levelled at Ed over the segment on Monday (August 5), as he is the husband of the senior Labour politician.
However, controversy over whether Ed may be considered suitably impartial for such a role was not the only issue to come under the spotlight.
Amid reports of thousands of complaints being sent to Ofcom, Ed was also blasted over his exchanges on the programme with another MP, too.
Ed Balls on GMB
That’s because, during the same episode, Ed and Kate had testy interactions with another guest, independent MP Zarah Sultana.
At one point he made out that Zarah was spraying “attacks” at him and GMB’s other pundits.
But he was also criticised for interrupting the Coventry South MP, with some social media users labelling Ed as “appalling”.
And it seems over 8,000 objections to Ed’s manner may have been logged, going by reports.
View this post on Instagram
Ed Balls on his GMB return
Over the weekend, however, it seems Ed may have settled into holiday mode for the next few weeks.
Sharing a snap of a huge pavlova on Instagram yesterday (Sunday August 11), Ed captioned his post: “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.
He added: “Loved working with Kate last week during such national turbulent times. I’m back with Susanna [Reid] at the beginning of September when schools and Parliament return – see you soon.”
‘I’ve received extremely racist abuse online, death threats, rape threats. The language we are seeing on the streets at the moment I’ve had in my inbox, letters and on social media’
Zarah Sultana MP says that social media is ‘fanning the flames’ and is a ‘very concerning area’. pic.twitter.com/9L6amcKUc1
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) August 5, 2024
How fans reacted
Meanwhile, Ed’s post came in for comments from both supporters and detractors.
“Stay at home baking, stick to what you’re good at!” one person chided him.
“A bit dodge interviewing the Mrs though let’s be honest,” another alleged.
Meanwhile, someone else chipped in with: “You and your co-presenter’s ‘treatment’ of Zarah Sultana was simply awful.”
But others made mention of how much they were looking forward to seeing Ed on GMB again.
“Gonna really miss you, love you on GMB, enjoy your holiday,” one well wisher wrote.
A second added: “You are great on GMB. Will miss you but have a fabulous summer break.”
And another agreed: “Absolutely brilliant on GMB, you are great Ed.”
Read more: GMB hit by over 8,000 Ofcom complaints as Ed Balls under fire for ‘appalling’ interview
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV from 6am.
Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think of this story.