Shirley Ballas breaks cover as she addresses ‘vitriol’ of BBC Strictly outrage over ‘bias’ scoring row

Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas has broken her silence after she received a barrage of backlash for her decision to save Wynne Evans and his partner Katya Jones during this weekend’s show.

After Evans and Jones, and Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu performed in the dance-off, Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse decided to save the former X Factor singer.

Anton Du Beke decided to save the opera singer, which left head judge Ballas with the final say, where she revealed: “Well, I don’t want to see either couple leave actually because I thought you both had a great run this series but based on this dance alone…

“Both of you had hiccups, a few little hiccups there, but one of you displayed a much more powerful and joyous routine for me so it was quite difficult for me to choose. But on this occasion, I am going to save Wynne and Katya.”

Her decision left fans to notice the “fuming” expression on Xu’s face towards Ballas, as well as taking to their own social media account to express their fury.

One fan penned: “Poor judging tonight. Shirley Ballas has lost the plot with her marking and getting fed up with the biased scoring across the board. The show is definitely fixed.”

A second raged: “Shirley Ballas – SHAME ON YOU. Just goes to prove my point that she is right up Wynne’s a***. Shayne is a miles better dancer. A disgusting result.”

“PLEASE BBC can you get rid of Shirley Ballas for next year, she is so biased, saves her favourites, gives 10’s because of a sob story, we need a fresh face for next year,” someone else ranted.

“I want to see Shirley Ballas replaced as head judge please #bbc #strictly preferably with someone who’s not biased, and judges based on who’s the better dancer,” another agreed.

A fifth expressed: “Can we start a petition to get Shirley off this show, she doesn’t even bother trying to conceal her favoritism anymore and she’s head judge??”

Ballas waded into the controversy on social media, cheekily responding “where do I sign lol” to one viewer’s comment that called for a petition to have her booted from the show.

But now, she has taken to her Instagram story to speak publicly and express her gratitude for those who had reached out giving their support after noticing the “abuse” she had received.

The Rumba queen first reposted a statement from a fan account which read: “The amount of vitriol being hurled at Shirley for last night’s elimination is horrendous and disgusting.

“It baffles me how people are throwing abuse at Shirley, yet Anton voted to save Wynne and Katya too, which resulted in her having to make the final decision. Everyone can have their opinions, but at the end of the day it’s an entertainment show and someone has to go home.

“Shirley is a human being with feelings just like the rest of us and nobody knows what she could be going through. What is wrong with some people!?

“Just be kind and treat others as you would like to be treated… Sending all my love to you, Shirley.”

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Ballas simply penned underneath it: “How beautiful, thank you @twirleyshirleyx.” (sic)

Today, she posted a video to her story and explained: “I wanted to thank you all for reaching out with the beautiful messages for the handful of vitriol and awful messages I go.

“Thousands of supportive messages and that really made my day, so I really appreciate that and I am looking forward to Blackpool next week. I shall be doing a book event at the winter gardens on Friday and then we’ll have the competition on Saturday, in the Tower Ballroom.

“I am looking forward to meeting you lot outside to say hello, but again hugs from me to you because you sure made me feel better this week. To each and every one of you that understand the show, I love you, take care.”