Politician Balls wins hearts in UK TV dance show

Britain's tabloids mourned Monday after former politician Ed Balls was booted out of a television dance contest, having won hearts with his try-hard attempts to improve his clunky "dad dancing".

Balls finally got the chop on the BBC's "Strictly Come Dancing", one of Britain's most popular TV shows, after 10 weeks of pouting, hip-thrusts and comically clodhopping efforts.

The tubby 49-year-old novice, a former education minister but never the most popular of politicians, had been the surprise star of the show, despite his dodgy dancing.

"I so enjoyed myself and got so much further than I ever thought I could and I am going out on a high," said Balls, also a former Labour Party finance spokesman who lost his seat in last year's general election.

He even won the plaudits of his political foes, with Conservative former prime minister David Cameron and finance minister George Osborne rallying to the cause.

Newspapers lamented Balls' last tango.

"We've enjoyed watching the transformation of a politician we loved to hate into a dancer -- to use the word in its loosest sense -- we just love to love," The Sun said in its editorial.

The Daily Mirror's TV editor Nicola Methven said: "The public took him to their hearts, because us Brits can't help loving a trier."

Balls came 6th out of 15 celebrity contestants, outlasting singers Anastacia and Will Young and 2012 Olympic champion long jumper Greg Rutherford.

Arch-enemy Osborne called his achievements "amazing".

"Well done Ed Balls. That took guts," he said.

Even Cameron -- whom Balls regularly riled in parliament -- tweeted his best wishes.

"We're very proud of you! Strictly won't be the same without you," he said.

Commentator and ex-contestant Esther Rantzen wrote in the Daily Mail: "Not only had he tried harder than anyone, he had more to contend with: mainly the fact that he is the wrong shape to dance gracefully, and worse, that for most of his life he thought he could dance -- and he was wrong." 

"Strictly Come Dancing" pulls in around 11 million viewers, nearly a sixth of the population.

A former lead economics writer for the Financial Times newspaper, Balls was the chief economic advisor to the Treasury, the schools minister and then Labour's finance spokesman in opposition.

He is now a senior fellow at Harvard University's business and government centre.

Source: AFP