(Image: BBC)
BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Shirley Ballas hits back at 'embarrassed' claim as she admits weekly show ritual
by Jessica Sansome · Manchester Evening NewsShirley Ballas has hit back at a Strictly Come Dancing viewer after they told her she should be 'embarrassed' by her latest appearance in the ballroom.
Week ten of the BBC One dance contest took place last weekend and saw the seven remaining couples take to the dance floor in a bid to impress with their latest routines and make it through to this weekend's quarter final, which takes place live this Saturday night (November 30).
Following their main routines, the couples were then tasked with returning to the ballroom for the first Dance-A-Thon is six years - this time the challenge being the Samba-Thon.
It saw all the couples take to the floor at the same time to deliver their best Samba moves before being eliminated one by one, with the first couple eliminated earing one point and the winning couple earning seven points to add to their weekend total.
Messaging Shirley on X, formerly known as Twitter, one viewers said: "You should be embarrassed to be in involved in that Sambathon! Totally pointless, difficult to watch on TV and totally biased against Chris who never had a chance! Get rid and climb down off your arrogant high horse!"
But after the comment caught her eye, Shirley re-shared the post and said: "Not embarrassed at all. I enjoyed every minute of the samba. Felt like I was in Brazil. Thank you for tuning in x."
It comes after Shirley admitted that she dread having the deciding vote on Strictly. As the show's head judge the 64-year-old star has the responsibility of giving the final vote following the dreaded dance-off, after her fellow judges Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke have made their choices, but Shirley prays that it "doesn't come down to me".
(Image: PA)
The Queen of Latin told Radio Times magazine: "I’m sitting there every weekend, thinking, 'Dear Lord, my saviour, please let the other three make the decision so it doesn’t come down to me.' But somebody has to do this job, and I try to send them home with as much confidence and affection as I can. My heart does have a little cry when I see them go because I’ve got to know them, and see them improving."
Shirley was previously hit with backlash after viewers disagreed with her saving opera singer Wynne Evans instead of former Coronation Street star Shayne Ward earlier in the series.
Talking of how she critiques the celebrities, she said: "I have several hats. I have a technician hat, an empathy hat and a snuggle-bunny cuddle hat if I feel they need it. I can read the room, put it that way. I might think I’m going to say one thing, then I see that they have struggled or made mistakes.
"You want to give encouragement for the parts they did well, but recognise the mistakes, too. I don’t have anybody telling me what I can and cannot say. We have no earpieces. Nobody’s told what to say."