Strictly Come Dancing fans have accused Shirley Ballas of sexism, after she gave lower scores to female-celebrity pairs.
Ballas, 63, came under fire from fans who believed that head judge Shirley had deliberately lowered her score for three of the show’s female celebrity contestants. Many saw her lower scoring for Zara McDermott, Angela Rippon and Ellie Leach as a push against their success, as her fellow panellists awarded higher marks.
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The Latin dancer was booed by some in the audience of the BBC dancing contest. An insider on the show told The Sun that many people were shocked at how she was scoring the contestants. “Her scoring surprised many,” the source said.
(Image: PA)
It comes a year after Shirley was embroiled in a ‘sexism row’ on the show, as she was accused of giving preferential treatment to male contestants over female celebrities. Some fans of the show called for Shirley’s removal from the panel, with one writing: “She has no credibility as a judge”.
On Saturday (September 30), former Corrie star Ellie Leach, 22, received a total of 31 points – three sets of eight from Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood, and a seven from Shirley. The same happened for legendary broadcaster Angela Rippon.
Similarly, Love Island star Zara McDermott, 26, was given three sets of 6 points from the judges, with Shirley breaking ranks to give her a five. Some fans have called out Ballas’ voting patterns, believing something more malicious is going on.
(Image: PA)
Fans of the show were quick to jump to social media to vent their frustrations. One viewer watching on Saturday wrote: “Of course, another low score from Shirley for a woman”.
A second fan said: “Shirley being the lowest score for [Ellie] again…surprise surprise”. Whilst a third fan called out her score for Angela, tweeting: “Never mind the young pretty woman, our Shirley will score even lower for the older woman. She’s consistent”.
An insider for Strictly said in a statement that all the judges are free to give points however they want. The source added that “any conspiracy theories circulating via social media suggesting otherwise are simply untrue”.
(Image: BBC/Ray Burmiston)
Shirley has recently experienced a torrent of abuse on social media due to her perceived preference for male contestants on the show. She revealed that after the hate she received in last year’s series, she sought counselling to deal with the trolls.
Ballas also admitted that she had debated not returning to the BBC show for the 2023 series. Speaking to OK! magazine, Shirley said: “What [the trolling] did to me on the last series, I wouldn’t want that for anyone”.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
