The Ed chef
Home Cook king inspired by mum he hasn’t seen in months
HIS hearty food on Celebrity Best Home Cook has given viewers a warm, fuzzy feeling at a time when so many are missing their mums’ grub.
But Ed Balls, who won the show last night, has told of the heartache behind his success – an “incredibly painful” 10 months without seeing his own “inspirational” mother.
He hopes Carolyn, who has dementia and lives in a care home, got a lift watching him cook dishes she showed him how to make.
“It has always been in my mind, she is watching and will recognise me and, deep inside, feel pleased I’m doing things she taught me.”
In last night’s final Ed beat actor Tom Read Wilson and Boris Johnson’s journalist sister, Rachel.
And he admits he “got quite emotional because everything I was cooking were dishes I learned from her”. Carolyn, in her 80s, has not seen her husband, children or grandchildren during the pandemic.
Ed said: “She used to come home in a taxi with her carer and I would cook all her favourites, lasagne, roast beef and Yorkshire puddings. I miss that.
“It’s been especially hard on my dad, who is on his own in their house. He’s been able to see her on FaceTime, but it’s not the same as being able to touch, and to sing.
“She would smile when we’d sing with her and it’s not the same when doing it down a phone line.
SERIOUS
“What I know is she is watching me on TV and every now and again she sees me and turns to her carer and says, ‘What’s he up to now?’”
It is the reason Ed “started to care much more than I expected” about the BBC show – judged by Mary Berry, chef Angela Hartnett and produce expert Chris Bavin.
He took it far more seriously than Strictly Come Dancing in 2016, in which he famously danced Gangnam Style with Katya Jones.
Ed, who is married to former Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, said: “I suddenly realised that if Mary Berry or Angela didn’t like my lasagne, then actually they didn’t like my mum’s lasagne.
“If they criticised my shepherd’s pie that would have been 50 years of my life being challenged.”
Ed says he’s been the only cook in his house ever since the birth of their first child, Ellie, now 22. The couple also have son Joe, 18, and 17-year-old daughter Maddy.
And with his children huge fans of his dishes, the pressure was on.
He said: “On Strictly my kids had low expectations. But with cooking it was different – they were quite worried in case it didn’t go well.”
Since losing his seat in 2015 while Shadow Chancellor, Ed has also taught political economics at Harvard and King’s College London, and made travel documentaries with a political twist.
Might he return to frontline politics? “Never say never” Ed replied. “And mum will roll her eyes and say, ‘What’s he doing now?”
I wanted mum to feel, deep inside, pleased I was cooking things she taught me