Ed Balls becomes emotional reflecting on memories of his dementia-stricken mother... as he credits her for teaching him how to cook ahead of recipe book release 

Ed Balls tried to hold back his emotion talking about his mother on Monday's This Morning.

Sharing memories from his childhood, and how his mum - who now has dementia - helped teach him how to cook, Ed, 54, powered through as he reflected on this, while images of him as a tot came up on the screen.

Clearly on the edge of getting tearful, the ex-politician told This Morning hosts Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes about his memories, managing to remain composed. 

'My first memories are probably... I did a cub scout cooking badge and my mum helped me to practice at home. She then passed on a few things and I'd get things ready while she was on her way home from work. She really did teach me,' he said, fondly.

He went on: 'A three weeks old I had my first Yorkshire pudding and beef on the advice of a health visitor.

'She said, 'clearly, he's a bouncing boy'. I had roast beef and Yorkshire pudding three weeks old. We did things differently back then.'

Ed hasn't shied away from showing how much his mother, Carolyn, means to him, especially in recent times, since her diagnosis.

She is cared for in a nursing home in Norwich and he says Carolyn's dementia was first manifested through her cooking.

Speaking to Weekend Magazine earlier this month, about the release of his new cook book - Ed said: 'Mum was clearly losing some memory but it started to feel more like dementia when, around ten years ago, she served a chicken casserole which obviously hadn't been in the oven for very long. Then she made a lasagne without pasta.'

Of his last visit to see her, he added: 'I gave her a hug and said, 'Mum, it's Edward, your eldest son,' and she said, 'Yes' in a tone that conveyed, 'I know that.'

'When we visit we have low expectations – Mum is often asleep and unresponsive. This visit was the best for a couple of years. We sang a bit of ABBA and Lord Of All Hopefulness.

'Mum seemed pleased and was smiling. And she watches YouTube videos of me on Strictly. Each time it's as if she's seeing it for the first time. She knows it's me. 

'She's not sure what I'm up to but she smiles and rolls her eyes.

'If you'd told me those videos would still make her happy five years on, that would have been reason enough to do Strictly.'

This Morning airs weekdays from 10AM-12:30PM on ITV.