Good Morning Britain host Ed Balls recalls being moved to tears as he discusses speech impediment with Gareth Gates
Good Morning Britain presenter Ed Balls recalled being left in tears as he spoke to former Pop Idol star Gareth Gates about his speech impediment.
Gates, now a qualified speech coach with the McGuire Programme, a stuttering treatment course, appeared on the ITV morning show on Tuesday to discuss his stammer.
During their conversation, the 39-year-old was played a clip from a year ago when presenter Balls, 57, was left emotional as he discussed his own challenges with a speech impediment.
The presenter shared in the clip from November 2023: “You inspired me. I thought, ‘If Gareth Gates can do this, I can too. And if he can be public, I can be public too. It was really hard, but I did it because you showed me how to do it.”
“Thank you for saying that, it means a lot," the singer replied, adding: "God bless you, man."
With tears in his eyes, Balls could only nod as his co-host Susanna Reid began speaking, admitting she felt “privileged” to be sitting between the pair of them.
She placed a reassuring hand on Ball’s shoulder as he began to cry in earnest, saying: “Aww! I feel like… can we have a hug?”
The broadcaster told the men: “Nothing to be ashamed of. It’s to be proud of – it’s part of your identity, isn’t it! [Gareth] broke the ground for you, didn’t he, Ed? There we go, Gareth, that’s what you did.”
Following the emotional moment, Gates welled up himself, telling Balls: “You’re a role model for me now! For you to be doing this is really incredible.”
On Tuesday’s episode, Gates was back on the morning programme to discuss his stammer when Balls revealed the impact of their conversation eight months on.
The former Labour MP shared: “I had a call a few weeks ago from the newly elected mayor of North Yorkshire, David Skaith, who's had a stammer all his life.
“His stammer came out during his first interview, and I said to him, 'Look at Gareth, you've got to talk about it'. He's in Downing Street this morning with a stammer, and he is going to be another role model for young people.
“You can become an elected mayor with a stammer. You can be Pop Idol winner, the winner of Celebrity SAS. All of these things are possible with a stammer!"
To which Gates added: “You can also present every morning live on television, Ed, and I applaud you too!”
In a 2011 interview with The Times, Balls first disclosed his battle with a stammer, sharing how he had to memorise all his speeches due to difficulty reading from a script.
He recounted memorising up to 15 speeches weekly to manage his stammer, explaining that when it seemed he forgot his lines, his voice had momentarily frozen.
He said at the time: “You just have to be yourself whatever you do. It doesn't cause me a problem as Secretary of State, although there are times when it is tough.
“The worst thing you can do is try and stop it. That's when you trip up. It happens to me on live TV.
“Some people speak without notes because they think it looks better. Some people do it because they think it leads to a better speech. But I can't read the words out.”
Balls later revealed that he wasn't aware of his stammer until he was already serving in Cabinet, when he realised he struggled with public speaking in specific situations, and wasn't formally diagnosed with the condition until he was 41.
