STRICTLY Come Dancing fans have been left furious after spotting Shirley Ballas’ “rude and disrespectful” comment to a pro dancer.
Viewers of the BBC One dancing competition were left in shock after the head judge called Dianne Buswell the wrong name.
Shirley called the professional dancer by the wrong name
Fans were furious about the mishap over the weekend
Shirley, 62, had fans in a frenzy after she dished out her comments to Dianne, 33, and her celebrity dance partner Tyler West.
Dozens rushed to social media to complain after the former ballroom dancer was heard calling the professional – – who has been part of the show for the past five years – “Dianna”.
Hitting out against the mistake, one wrote: “Did Shirley just call Dianne ‘Dianna’ again? She’s been on the show for 6 f**king series.”
While a second chimed in: “How after 5 years can Shirley insist on getting Dianne’s name wrong? It’s unbelievably rude.”
“Two weeks in a row Shirley has called Dianne ‘Dianna’ – wtf? It’s beyond ignorant. Get Shirley in the bin,” a third fumed.
A fourth chimed in: “Not Shirley calling Dianne ‘Diana’ again … when does it become disrespectful?”
“I think it’s unprofessional that Shirley keeps calling Dianne ‘Dianna’, they’ve both worked on the show for years,” a fifth concluded.
Despite the name blunder, dancer Dianne took to her social media to hit back against the comments, as she begged fans to stop “bullying” the judge over the mishap.
Taking to her Instagram on Sunday, Dianne penned: “Firstly thank you guys so much for all the support on our dance last night.
“Another point want to address is I have seen a lot of hateful comments aimed at Shirley for simply adding an a to the end of my name which doesn’t offend me, but what does make me upset is seeing someone being bullied online.
“We are all human and doing the best we can. Let’s all please be kind to one another and not put each other down.
“I don’t think we realise how some comments can effect us no matter how strong we are as people.”
Despite the name mishap, viewers were equally angry as the judges appeared to favour the couple during their scoring.
While it wasn’t Tyler’s best performance by a long shot, he still managed to score 29 points, even though the judges picked up on some mistakes.
Head judge Shirley said there were “too many mistakes, too much incorrect footwork, you can forgive a little bit…collapsed in the frame, I’ve seen it better, I’ve seen you better.”
Meanwhile Anton Du Beke added: “The thing that bothered me the most was the top line. It’s not bad just a bit wonky.”
Strictly Come Dancing airs Saturdays on BBC One and is available on BBC iPlayer
