Ed Balls sends GMB studio into hysterics as he admits not knowing common phone feature

The Good Morning Britain studio earlier erupted into laughter on Friday morning as Ed Balls let slip he didn't know how to use a common feature on his mobile phone.

The admission was made in a discussion about the ITV show's 1 Million Minutes campaign that is encouraging viewers to pledge their time to tackle loneliness.

Ed, 55, and his co-host Ranvir Singh, 45, promoted the annual initiative on the show earlier this morning. GMB guests Iain Dale, 60, and Jacqui Smith, 60, were seen sat alongside them at the time.

Explaining the ways viewers can get involved, Ranvir shared that scanning a QR code on screen would provide a list of charities.

A stumped Ed asked: "What's a QR code?"

Ed Balls (left) suggested to his GMB co-host Ranvir Singh (right) that he didn't know what a QR code was (ITV)

Giggles could be heard from the crew in the background, before Ranvir explained the barcode situation to Ed.

In disbelief she said: "You know. You just get your phone out, camera on and it just clicks into it."

The former politician seemed to look at a monitor that showed the screen, where he noticed a QR code - which stands for quick response code - visible to viewers.

"Oh that box!? Oh look at that," he gasped in surprise.

Some viewers were surprised he hadn't known about them before. One wrote: "How can Ed not know what a QR code is?" A second said he was "ill informed," reciting: "What's a QR Code?"

Ed seemed surprised to discover a QR code on screen (ITV)

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The 1 Million Minutes initiative was launched in 2016. ITV has said that more than 400 million minutes of time have been donated to charities associated with loneliness since then.

ITV said: "It's never been more important for us to talk about feeling lonely. Especially following the acute isolation the cost of living crisis is currently causing millions of people".

It was whilst promoting GMB's 1 Million Minutes campaign (ITV)

The initiative aims to encourage viewers to pledge their time to charities that "tackle the issues of loneliness". Ranvir shared examples of ways you can do this earlier.

She said that it can include "grief call handling" and being a home visiting volunteer. The host said some people may prefer to instead host social events in their community.

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV and ITVX from 6am.

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