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Strictly Come Dancing head judge Shirley Ballas has clapped back at trolls who have accused her of being ‘sexist’ and preferring male celebrity dancers.
The 62-year-old helms the panel of the BBC’s juggernaut series, which also includes Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood.
Celebrities including Helen Skelton and Will Mellor make up the line-up of stars taking to the ballroom floor in the hopes of winning the Glitterball Trophy.
However, Shirley has been blasted by some viewers, who claim she has a ‘soft spot’ for the male contestant.
The backlash started when she corrected her score for a higher number for Tyler West, with one fan writing she has ‘a little glint’ in her eye for the DJ.
After Movie Week, Shirley was met with abuse after revealing she would have decided to save eliminated celebrity Richie Anderson over Fleur East following the dreaded dance-off.
Viewers questioned Shirley’s decision as Fleur had scored more highly with her rendition of the American smooth to Part Of Your World from The Little Mermaid, compared to Riche’s performance of the Samba to Hakuna Matata.
Shirley has been targeted by trolled (Picture: BBC)
Appearing on Wednesday’s Loose Women, Shirley spoke about the fierce criticism she had received.
Revealing the judges saw more of the routine than viewers at home, Shirley explained: ‘When it’s put in front of me 45 years of experience come in [to play].
Richie was eliminated after Movie Week (Picture: BBC/Guy Levy)
‘And you don’t have to agree with me. I don’t have to agree with the panel. They don’t have to agree with me. That’s okay. But we can still talk to each other in a human-like fashion.’
When asked why she selected Richie, Shirley responded: ‘I chose Richie because it’s very very difficult to dance the Samba. It’s a really difficult dance to dance and his footwork was beautiful.
Fleur was ultimately saved by the judges (Picture: PA)
‘He did a stationary Samba walk in front of me. He did a beautiful toe, ball, heel. I’m looking at all the footwork that I know is extremely difficult that I would expect in like week six
‘And I loved Fleur. She had this beautiful, beautiful frame and it was soft and it was elegant. But in the end, I went with the footwork.’
Also on the IT daytime programme, Shirley got emotional as she recounted the amount of abuse she received on social media.
She said while she ‘loved’ that the audience has an opinion, it becomes hurtful when it ‘goes overboard and becomes nasty.’
Shirley added she had received ‘unfathomable’ messages with language ‘so explicit’ she would not have been able to retweet them but had received some apologies.
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Following his shock exit from the show, BBC Radio 2 DJ Richie Anderson was overcome with emotion as he spoke about his departure on Strictly: It Takes Two.
‘I’m just so proud,’ the former contestant said, becoming tearful as he watched back the moment he left the show.
Loose Women airs on weekdays from 12.30pm on ITV.
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Shirley was slammed for saying she would have chosen Richie over Fleur.