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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Rebecca Cook

Ed Balls shares Strictly boss warning against X-rated Gangnam dance move ahead of show

Good Morning Britain’s Ed Balls opened up about the note he received from a Strictly Come Dancing show boss ahead of his infamous Gangnam Style dance on the show.

The former Labour MP was reminiscing over his time on the BBC ballroom dancing show with co-host Susanna Reid, when the ITV morning show played a clip of Ed with then first-time professional Katya Jones.

The clip showed the pair as they took on one of K-pop's most recognisable songs, performing the Salsa to Psy's Gangnam Style, complete with the iconic dance moves – some of which were performed with Katya through his legs.

The moment sparked a craze for that series, with fellow professionals, fans and even host Sir Bruce Forsyth performing the dance on live TV.

As the co-hosts watched the clip, following the launch of the show this year, Susanna said: “My goodness, you didn’t make any mistakes, Ed Balls, did you?”

The former Labour MP was reminiscing over his time on the BBC ballroom dancing show (ITV)

Ed then shared that during the dress rehearsal for the infamous dance, they received an ‘important’ director’s note on the BBC programme.

He explained: “We had a director’s note that it was important that Katya turn her head to the side in that Gangnam moment.

“She was not allowed to look upwards, because they felt it was inappropriate at that time in the evening.”

Susanna laughed at the admission, as she joked: “Not family viewing.”

“Not family viewing.” (TV GRABS /BBC PICTURES)

Ed previously spoke with Mirror Online about his time on the dance show and whether he would sign up for any other TV shows.

He said: "For me, Strictly is the best one, so I feel I should quit while I’m ahead. It was great to be dressed up performing as The Mask and then on the Today programme talking about politics."

He added: "I remember Nick Robinson asking me about central bank independence and needing to ask me about Strictly afterwards.

"There wasn’t a natural link between my two roles at that time but I always found one."

The clip showed the pair as they took on one of K-pop's most recognisable songs (ITV)

Ed’s Gangnam Style dance went down a storm with viewers and the judges, as head judge Len said at the time: “I don’t think there’s words in the dictionary to describe that.

"There is always a sense of anticipation, far more than any other couple, when you come on stage. It is so entertaining.”

Craig is known best for giving critical comments to the contestants but even he couldn't find the words and instead simply said: “3 letters, darling – O. M. G.”

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