Good Morning Britain presenter Susanna Reid snapped at co-host Ed Balls in a fiery argument not seen by viewers, it has been claimed.
Tensions are said to have flared off-screen amid this morning’s broadcast, as they continued their coverage of this week’s Budget.
Reports have suggested Ms Reid, 54, told off 58-year-old ex-Labour minister Mr Balls during an advert over his plans for how he would conduct the next segment.
The pair had yesterday grilled Chancellor Rachel Reeves over her Budget plans.
A source was quoted as saying: ‘They usually have a great relationship, but it’s clear Susanna wears the trousers.
‘She’s an incredibly experienced and competent journalist and presenter who has been covering the budget for decades.
‘Seeing as Ed is a former Shadow Chancellor, Budget week is like Christmas to him.
‘He loves feeling like he’s still at the heart of government and balancing the books, but forgot he’s in Susanna’s territory now and she rules the roost.’
Susanna Reid (left) had Rachel Reeves (right) looking flustered on Thursday after grilling her about whether she broke Labour’s manifesto commitments in the Budget
They told the Sun: ‘Ed got carried away and was soon put in his place by Susanna who helped keep them on track during a very busy news week.’
It comes after Ms Reid left Chancellor Rachel Reeves looking flustered on Thursday when grilling her about whether she had broken Labour’s manifesto commitments.
The Good Morning Britain presenter piled pressure on the Chancellor during an awkward encounter as she appeared on the ITV breakfast show a day after unveiling a £30billion assault on British workers.
Ms Reeves unveiled a series of smaller money grabbing tax increases in a desperate bid to balance the books, having abandoned plans for a manifesto-busting income tax rise earlier this month.
These include a new pay-per-mile tax for electric vehicles, increased taxes on online betting and a so-called ‘mansion tax’ on homes worth more than £2million.
But she continued to face accusations of breaching Labour’s election promise not to raise taxes on ‘working people’ after introducing a £13billion freeze on income tax for three years.
During a heated exchange with Ms Reid, the Labour MP repeatedly denied breaching the manifesto pledge and insisted the document only committed to not changing tax ‘rates’.
But the presenter refused to let the floundering Chancellor off the hook, asking her: ‘How can anyone believe anything you say?’
Former Labour Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and Susanna Reid are regular GMB co-hosts
‘I am Chancellor in the world as it is and not in the world as I might like it to be,’ Ms Reeves replied, before repeating the ways in which the Government was easing costs on taxpayers.
Ms Reid and Mr Balls have had heated debates on air in the past, including one about fly tipping earlier this year – prompting complaints from viewers that they were talking over each other.
She said at the time, ‘My thing, bins on streets’, prompting Mr Balls to interrupt and say: ‘She wants a personal bin outside her house.’
She then added: ‘No, I have a personal bin like every resident does.’
Mr Balls snapped back: ‘And a public police officer to make sure that anybody that puts things in your bin kind of gets convicted.’
Ms Reid then replied: ‘No, obviously not a police officer. I don’t know about where you live, but where we live, the council provides a bin obviously for me and my house, outside.’
She added: ‘When you come out of schools for instance and you’ve got lots of children and they’ve been to the shop and they’ve got loads of rubbish, where do they put the rubbish?
‘I don’t mind if they put it in my bin obviously, but my bin isn’t outside every single school.
‘The kids could take the rubbish home with them unless they’re going to the common, I don’t understand why we took away the bins.’
GMB faced a backlash last year after Mr Balls interviewed his wife Yvette Cooper on the show – with complaints about what was dubbed a ‘huge conflict of interest‘.
The then-Home Secretary Ms Cooper, now Foreign Secretary, was on the breakfast programme to discuss whether the police’s response to the nationwide riots had been sufficient.
Mr Balls has become a regular GMB host after losing his parliamentary seat in 2015 and pursuing a media career – including being a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing the following year.
He and Ms Cooper, who became Home Secretary after Labour won the general election in July 2024, have been married since 1998.
Ofcom later announced they had ‘carefully’ considered the issue and would not pursue any further action over the interview.
ITV sources have denied there were any tensions between the presenting pair today and insisted they had worked together ‘perfectly well’ on Budget coverage.
