Shirley Ballas has revealed the trolling she endured over Strictly’s last season (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
Shirley Ballas has revealed she’s taking a breather and skipping the Christmas panto season after enduring ‘immense trolling’ during the last season of Strictly Come Dancing.
The season saw CBeebies presenter Hamza Yassin lift the Glitterball Trophy along with Jowita Przysta on Saturday night, and while celebrations continued into the weekend, Shirley had already plotted her time off to recuperate.
The beloved star, 62, has been the series’ Head Judge since 2017 and is a regular face in pantomime, but is taking a break over the festive season – for the first time ever.
She said: ‘It’s the first time I’ve taken any time off – ever! I’m taking two and a half weeks off, because of the immense amount of trolling I got throughout this series.
‘I decided I wouldn’t do panto this year. Last time I did it, I got a letter hand-delivered to the theatre that was very off-putting. I actually kept it. I don’t know why.’
The star was faced with intense criticism from Strictly viewers over the past few weeks, which led to Dan Walker jumping to her defence, blasting the ‘bile and hatred’ online, as he called on fans to leave her alone.
The head judge was faced with ‘bile and hatred’ over the series (Picture: BBC/Guy Levy)
However, the former Latin championship winner – who appeared alongside Craig Revel Horwood, Anton Du Beke and Motsi Mabuse on the judging panel of the BBC Saturday night favourite – went on to insist that she has had a ‘blast’ appearing on the 20th series of Strictly and even believes the latest edition has ‘topped’ the 2021 competition, which was won by EastEnders actress Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice.
She told the Sunday Express’ S Magazine: ‘I’ve totally had a blast on this series. I love it, I love the judges. I don’t think anybody thought we could top last year and suddenly we did.
‘It looked like it could be anybody’s series because each of the celebrities has brought a different, great performance on certain weeks.’
After clinching victory on the dancefloor on Saturday night, Hamza, 32, was seen leaving the star-studded after-party with two thumbs up, with Shirley also seen flashing a bright grin and a peace sign on the way out.
It seemed the cameraman still hadn’t processed his victory, though, and admitted in a heartwarming social media post he was ‘still trying to comprehend what happened’.
Taking to Instagram to reflect on his triumph, he took a moment to heap praise on his partner Jowita, describing her as an ‘angel disguised as a human being’ and a ‘ray of sunshine’.
‘Thank you for your trust and guidance throughout this incredible journey,’ he wrote. ‘You shone a light for me that got me through some tough weeks and you have been by my side every step of the way.
‘You will go on to do great things in your life. It was my pleasure to be your student. I will forever be grateful for how you have changed my life.’
Hamza also went on to thank the Strictly team for giving him the opportunity of a lifetime, before moving on to acknowledge the judges, Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood, as well as thanking the British public for voting for him.
Strictly Come Dancing is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
She was met with ‘bile and hatred’ during the last season.
