The set of Good Morning Britain turned into chaos on Wednesday morning as presenter Ed Balls had a “battle” with a guest. He and co-star Susanna Reid welcomed on a couple of stars from the hit show Gladiators, Steel and Fire, and of course Ed had to have a taste of their competition for himself.
He and Steel both picked up a pugil stick each as they went head-to-head, live on air. “What do I have to do then?” asked Ed before taking on a defensive stance. The Gladiators star explained that it’s “tough” but you “need to get your stance right”. The GMB presenter lunged at his fellow competitor as Susanna joked: “You’re already disqualified!” Soon, the men jabbed at each other while ducking and diving away from each other’s blows. But at one point, Steel hit Ed just a little too hard, sending him flying off the raised stage, resulting in whoops from Susanna and Fire.
Susanna threw her hands to her face in shock as she declared: “No jabs allowed!” Steel jokingly allowed Ed to take a “headshot” back at him, before they decided to give it up and sit back down.
But Susanna was still concerned for Ed, who was clearly breathless as he slumped onto the sofa. As he let out a loud exhale, the Gladiator asked: “Are you ok?”
“That was just 30 seconds of that, by the way,” added Fire. Ed repsonded, looking defeated: “It was quite heavy.”
Susanna noted that Steel, who looked completely unbothered and unaffected, could “now run a marathon”.
She added: “Whereas Ed can barely speak. But you’re going to have to read the next introduction, Ed.”
A breathless Ed gave it a go, taking huge breaths in between words as his co-star burst out laughing.
Fans at home had a very mixed reaction to the chaos. On X/Twitter, one viewer gushed: “#gmb I do love Ed Balls!” It was followed by a crying-laughing emoji.
Someone else fumed: “Sit down Ed, you’re embarrassing yourself and those around you #gmb,” to which another person replied: “He’s just having a laugh.”
Another person penned: “Ed seems like a decent man but as a presenter he’s out of his depth. It’s awkward to watch #gmb.”
