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Ed Balls went to Donald Trump's anniversary party at Mar-a-Lago, but there's a perfectly reasonable explanation.

Fans were surprised to see the former Labour Shadow Chancellor and Strictly star posing for a photo with a pair of prominent female Trump supporters in an Instagram post on Saturday night.

His two companions were actress Tina Hillstrom, one of the four core members of "Real Women 4 Trump", and Toni Holt Kramer, the socialite and founder of the "Trumpettes".

The $1000-a-couple fundraiser, which was being held at the luxury Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, went ahead without Trump on Saturday night after he was obliged to stay in Washington to deal with the budget crisis that has left the US government in shutdown.

(Image: Patrick McMullan) (Image: AFP)

Trump was allegedly heard telling close sources that he was 'upset' at having to miss the party after telling pals he had been looking forward to the occasion.

But Balls was not just there to dance the night away in celebration of the Donald's first year in office.

He was there with a BBC crew, making a series entitled: "Ed Balls: My Deep South Road Trip."

(Image: tina_hillstrom/Instagram)

According to the BBC, the series is "no ordinary political travelogue."

A press release ahead of the series reads: "No matter how far the journey takes him out of his comfort zone, Ed will have to walk a mile in their shoes and see the world through their eyes.

"Ed is determined to understand more about the new world order and his own place within it."

Mr Balls said: “It's one thing to swap being a politician for reality TV and embarrass your family in the process. It's quite another thing to swap reality TV for the US Presidency and turn the world upside down.

"I've always loved visiting the American south - the food and the music are fabulous and there's so much to learn from its history.

"But I was as shocked as anyone else by the way the south helped sweep Trump to victory.

"So I'm looking forward to visiting the communities at the heart of the Trump revolution, getting to know the voters who elected him and finding out what they think of him one year on.”