The opening night episode, in which the 15 celebrities discover which dancers they are paired with, attracted an average of 9.3 million viewers (46.4 % share) and a peak of 10.1 million, the highest for a launch show since the series began in 2004.
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Mr Balls has said his Labour politician wife Yvette Cooper had advised him against doing the Rhumba because it would be “appalling”.
Jordan accused show bosses of specifically pairing some professionals with celebrities who have previous experience in a bid to help them stay in the competition for as long as possible.
Tweeting his thoughts during the launch show on Saturday night (3rd September), the former dancer seemed to suggest that bosses had paired their “favourite” professionals with the celebrities who’ve had the most dance training.
Model Daisy is with Aljaz Skorjanec, who won Strictly with model Abbey Clancy in 2013. He also has experience treading the boards as a stage performer.
Brendan Cole, who has been on Strictly since the first series, will be waltzing his way on to the dance floor with USA singer Anastacia while Anton du Beke, who has also been there since the beginning, is with Birds of a Feather actress Lesley Joseph.
“It was pretty tough and thank God I had Lou”, she continued.
Past year an average of 8.7 million tuned in.
ITV’s launch show last weekend was watched by 6.8 million (34% share) and peak of 7.5 million.
Strictly beat this Saturday’s episode of The X Factor, which was watched by 8.3 million viewers (39%) and peaked with 9.2 million.
However, The Great British Bake Off, which averaged 13.6 million viewers in its launch episode on 24 August, remains the most watched show this year.
Louis Walsh, Sharon Osbourne and Nicole Scherzinger have joined Simon Cowell on this year’s X Factor.
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James was a popular member of the Strictly cast until he announced he was leaving the show in 2012.
