Ed Balls has gone

I have never watched Strictly Come Dancing in my life before this current series. I have never voted in a BBC poll before. But I have to confess I have been watching Ed Balls dance and voting for him each week.

Ed was not the best dancer. I don't think that was important really. He is, without doubt, a better dancer now than when the series began. That would seem to me the point of the series, although Strictly devotees might beg to differ.

I voted for him because he tried.

I was never brilliant at football at school. I did however try, and one of the captains always picked me, because he knew I would give of my all.

That is why amidst all of the laughter and smiles Ed Balls has brought us that I voted for him: he gave it all he had got, and went beyond what many people would have regarded to be his comfort zone.

I hope he goes back into politics. I think he will be a different sort of politician now, because we have been allowed to see him, when so much of what passes for politics today encourages individuals not to be authentic.

Saturday will not be the same again... I can go back to the radio and following Strictly solely on my twitter feed.

And for those who say it was only a dance competition. Then perhaps you should not pick those who have never danced before to be in it.