Ed Balls' annual leave from Good Morning Britain has done little to silence accusations of bias, as viewers slammed a recent interview with his wife, Yvette Cooper, despite his absence.
Bias Allegations Persist Despite Ed Balls' Absence
The former Labour MP and husband of the Health Secretary has long faced criticism over his perceived lack of impartiality on the ITV programme. In 2024, Ofcom received 16,000 complaints after Balls and co-star Kate Garraway interviewed Cooper. Since then, GMB has attempted to address the issue, with Balls no longer leading interviews with his wife.
During Cooper's latest appearance, which coincided with Balls' summer break, Adil Ray and Kate Garraway took over the interview. However, viewers were unimpressed, taking to social media to express frustration that the presenters had gone easy on their colleague's wife.
Viewers Accuse GMB of Soft Interview
One viewer tweeted: "Utterly pathetic soft interview with Yvette Cooper about the prison crisis on #GMB because she is the wife of #GMB presenter Ed Balls. Shameful." Another said: "This was a bad and biased interview towards @YvetteCooperMP. You never questioned the Secretary of State on the issue of the petition for PC Harper. Was this because there is a conflict of interest between GMB and @edballs? Never question her £500k labour donation?"
A third declared: "You went easy on Yvette Cooper," adding, "It came across as [if] you were trying NOT to upset your colleague, Ed Balls!"
Conflict of Interest Questioned
The controversy has renewed calls for Balls to leave the show, with critics arguing that his close personal ties to a senior politician make it impossible for him to conduct impartial interviews. "How can we expect the presenters of the show to give the same level of scrutiny to a politician that they know, not only on a professional level, but on a personal one? The answer is, you can't," the article states.
An ITV spokesman previously said GMB's interviews were "fair and duly impartial," but critics remain unconvinced. The article concludes that viewers are the ones losing out, with many switching off due to the ongoing bias row.
