Good Morning Britain host Ed Balls had to ‘sit out’ of an interview with his wife Yvette Cooper, after sparking immense backlash last time.
The former politician interviewed the home secretary in August alongside ITV co-host Kate Garraway.
However, viewers were outraged by the segment, questioning whether the fact they were married had an impact on the interview.
In total, Good Morning Britain that day received a total of 16,783 Ofcom complaints over Balls interviewing Cooper and over his comments to Labour MP Zarah Sultana following the Islamophobic and racist UK riots.
Several argued that Balls, 57, would be unable to remain impartial and that it would be a ‘conflict of interest’ to remain on the ITV programme while his wife was a cabinet member.
He’s now stepped back from another interview, before risking similar outrage.
Ahead of Cooper’s interview on the programme today, Balls declared that he would ‘sit this one out’, with Susanna Reid questioning the politician alone.
Introducing the segment after the break, Susanna began: ‘We’re joined by the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, next.’
Balls added: ‘Who, as you know, is my wife, so I’ll sit this one out.
‘Susanna and I will be joined by Andrew Pierce and Kevin Maguire right after that.’
Following the complaints from viewers when the show aired in August, ITV issued a response, saying: ‘Following a weekend of rioting and national unrest, GMB featured a range of interviews and discussion around this national emergency on today’s programme which included James Cleverly, shadow home secretary, and Yvette Cooper, home secretary.
‘We are satisfied that these interviews were balanced, fair and duly impartial.’
Balls had been accused of giving Cooper the ‘softest interview you could imagine’, especially in comparison to the way in which he probed Sultana, with viewers claiming he interrupted and disputed her.
Actor Mark Oosterveen fumed: ‘This morning, Ed Balls interviewed a Muslim MP, interrupting her and disputing everything. He then had the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on and gave her the softest interview you could imagine. Balls and Cooper are husband and wife by the way. This is part of the problem.’
‘Now that Yvette Cooper is now a government minister (Home Secretary),@GMB should 100% stand Ed Balls (her husband) down. That’s a massive conflict of interest. @GMB @ITV …do what is right and resolve this issue immediately,’ viewers Mr Smooth EMT added on X.
Balls later announced he was taking a break from the show, after joining the rotating roster three years ago, along with Richard Madeley, Adil Ray and Robert Rinder, following the departure of Piers Morgan.
He announced his summer break on August 13, a week after causing outrage over the interview, saying: ‘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. I’m back with Susanna at the beginning of September when schools and Parliament return – see you soon.’
Balls and Cooper, 55, married in 1998, before Balls was a member of Tony Blair’s cabinet as the Secretary to the Treasury, and they have three children together.
After David Cameron was victorious in the 2010 general election, which saw the Conservatives take charge of the country for the first time in 13 years, Balls became Shadow Chancellor while Yvette became Shadow Home Secretary.
Balls was unseated in the 2015 election, and stepped back from politics to move into presenting and other ventures, and participated in Strictly Come Dancing the following year.
This is Cooper’s first time in government for 14 years, having been part of the Opposition while the Conservatives were in charge.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV1.
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