Shirley Ballas sparks BBC Strictly ‘bias’ row as fans left ‘fuming’ over Pete Wicks scores: ‘A f*****g joke!’
Strictly head judge Shirley Ballas has caused fury among the dance show fans over her scoring of certain dancers on Saturday’s show.
Viewers took to social media to brand the 64-year-old Ballroom legend “Shirley Biased”.
The Only Way of Essex star Pete Wicks performed a powerful Couple’s Choice routine dedicated to his late grandmother.
The 36-year-old fought back tears as he and pro dancer Jowita Przystal spoke to the judges.
While all four judges praised the performance, with Craig Revel-Horwood describing the performance as “moving and beautiful,” Ballas was glowing with praise.
The head judge admitted she was “getting quite emotional” as she delivered her remarks to Wicks.
Ballas began: “I am a grandma myself, a nana, and just to see you dedicate that to your beautiful nan… Your dance was not only just filled with beautiful movements, but your heart and soul shone through what you did.”
“You were immersed in the music; you were immersed in the dancing and that for me is what it’s all about,” she concluded.
Ballas went on to award Wicks and Przystal an incredible score of 10, while the other judges gave two nines and an eight.
The head judges scoring placed Wicks high on the leaderboard, above show favourites Sarah Hadland of Miranda fame, Eastenders star Jamie Borthwick and JB Gill – who is dancing his second week with Lauren Oakley after Amy Dowden was forced to bow out of the competition.
Fans were quick to complain of favouritism from Ballas on social media, with one suggesting change the show change her name to “Shirley Biased”.
Another fan on X, formally Twitter, declared: “I’m sorry, but Shirley giving Pete a 10 is a f*****g joke.”
A third raged: “F*** offf shirley if that (Wicks’ dance) was Sarah (Hadland) she would’ve gone so much harder on the technique i’m FUMING #justiceforsarahhadland #strictly”
Ballas admitted she was “conflicted” with Hadland’s dance and complained of “issues with gapping” while the crowd jeered.
The head judge ended up awarding the Miranda star an eight, which angered viewers.
Another claim of unfair marking surrounded former JLS star JB Gill who topped the leaderboard, despite not receiving top marks for Ballas.
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One viewer posted: “Pete getting a 10 but Shirley giving JB a 9 – absolute nonsense”
“How the actual F could Shirley give a 10 to bloody Pete and a 9 to JB??!!??” another angrily questioned.
Despite her perceived slight in marking, Ballas believed Gill brought a “Brazilian party” to the Strictly dancefloor and looked like he was “in it to win it”
The head judge also paid tribute to the work of Gill’s previous dance partner Amy Dowden, saying “she set you up for this kind of performance”
