STRICTLY Come Dancing’s head judge Shirley Ballas has defended herself against accusations she uses preferential treatment on the show.
The championship dancer, who has been head judge on the show since 2017, has come under fire over the last few weeks as fans believe she’s ‘favouritising’ male celebrities over their female counterparts.
Shirley has defended accusations she favouritises the men
Shirley has been head judge since 2017
The criticism hasn’t gone unnoticed, with Shirley admitting that it does affect her after hearing it so much. However, that doesn’t mean she’s going to change her mind about certain decisions.
“I don’t ignore it, no,” she told Metro.co.uk at the Pride Of Britain awards. “I take my job seriously.
“I’m honoured and humbled to be able to be the head judge on Strictly Come Dancing. I am honoured and humbled to have been in my own industry for 55 years and to be able to get out there and give the best critique of the couples along their way during the show and hoping that it will inspire them to be the best that they can be.”
Since accusations of favouritism have come to light, Shirley has been backed up by pros and celebrities from this year’s competition, including Jayde Adams who was eliminated this week.
Speaking on It Takes Two in her first interview since sashaying off the dancefloor, Jayde took the opportunity to heap praise on the women on the show, who have to deal with a significant amount more trolling than the men do.
Jayde addressed the vile trolling she said women on the show receive in a tearful interview after the comedian’s appearance was mocked by cruel trolls.
Jayde told host Rylan: “I will say, women on this show get it in the neck, whether it’s me whether it’s Karen, whether it’s Shirley, the women get it worse than the men. And I just hope that my resilience is going to change things in the future.”
Kaye Adams, who was the first eliminated contestant this year, also backed Shirley up after leaving the series.
The Loose Women presenter, 59, claims “ageism and sexism” are behind accusations the 62-year-old judge favours younger male celebs.
“I’m desperately sorry Shirley has been subjected to some of the comments she has this week,” she told SE.
“It’s despicable and unwarranted. She’s hugely talented and highly-qualified for that job.
“Why are we making age a factor here? There are lots of reasons why you might like or not like an individual and that’s perfectly valid. The fact they’ve lived to that point in their life – why are we using that against people?”
“Even the word ‘flirty’. Are we trying to suggest she’s coming onto them? That’s clearly ridiculous,” he said.
“Shirley‘s a very vibrant, very attractive, very outgoing woman with an extrovert personality. She’s just being her. Shirley is just being Shirley. She should not have to apologise for that on the basis of her age – nor should any of us.
“We’re just going to drive people out of public life.”
Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday at 6.30pm on BBC One.
Shirley insists she takes her job ‘incredibly seriously’
