Dan Walker has jumped to the defence of Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas after trolls targeted her with ‘bile and hatred’ online, calling on fans upset with her critiques to leave her alone.
On Monday evening, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps actor Will Mellor became the latest celebrity to be eliminated from the competition with his professional dance partner Nancy Xu ahead of the final, after receiving the lowest joint score for their two performances.
The judges were highly critical of Will’s Paso Doble, with Shirley telling him that ‘basic fundamentals’ were missing from the routine, as she added: ‘When you choose to use a cape you have to extend it, you can’t use it as a little scarf around your neck, so I didn’t get a good start from the beginning.’
When the time came for the judges to decide who to keep in the series, after Will and Nancy went up against Fleur East and Vito Coppola in the dance-off, Shirley cast the deciding vote, choosing to save Fleur and Vito as she said: ‘This is by far, even for me, the most difficult decision I feel I’ve had to make.’
Following the programme, some fans directed their upset over the result towards Shirley, given the head judge had the final decision, after Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse chose to save Fleur, while Anton Du Beke decided to back Will.
Dan, who competed on Strictly last year, implored fans sending vitriolic messages to leave her alone, adding that his message came from ‘someone who she booted out’.
‘Can people please lay off @ShirleyBallas?’ the 45-year-old tweeted.
‘It’s ok to disagree but some of the bile & hatred on here is horrible. She’s been dancing her whole life, has won a gallon of titles and loves and cares for what she does. Just be nice!’
The Channel 5 presenter concluded his tweet by writing: ‘PS I’m speaking as someone who she booted out.’
Following the most recent Strictly show, Shirley responded to a couple of people on Twitter who weren’t happy with the feedback she gave on the night.
‘What is up with you tonight Shirley trying too hard to be Craig it doesn’t suit you,’ one person said, who added that they had read the judge’s book.
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In response, the 62-year-old said: ‘I never be any one but myself. I take my job seriously. Thank you for reading my book.’
Meanwhile, another viewer tweeted: ‘My favourite Shirley is Shirley-not-on-the-judging-panel Shirley,’ to which she replied: ‘How kind. Respecting your opinion.’
The Strictly Come Dancing final airs on Saturday at 7.05pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
