Shirley Ballas responds to Strictly Come Dancing sexism allegations: ‘I haven’t got a mean bone in my body’

‘I don’t have to agree with the panel, they don’t have to agree with me,’ the dancer and ‘Strictly’ head judge reasoned

Shirley Ballas has addressed recent allegations of sexism following remarks made on Strictly Come Dancing.

The Strictly head judge has been criticised by some viewers online after she claimed that she would have chosen to save radio personality, Richie Anderson, over Fleur East in Sunday’s (9 October) dance-off.

As the other judges chose to save singer and presenter East and her professional partner Vito Coppola, Ballas’s opinion was outweighed and Anderson and Giovanni Pernice were eliminated.

Since the programme aired, some viewers have declared her “sexist”, accusing her of seemingly favouring the male stars on the show, and calling for her to be fired as head judge.

After responding on Twitter and in a statement of denial made to The Independent, the professional ballroom and Latin dancer appeared on Loose Women on Wednesday (12 October) to comment further.

Ballas, 62, who denied once again that she holds sexist bias, also noted that she’s been a victim of prejudice throughout her career.

“In my 50s, it started to escalate,” Ballas explained. “There were certain people who wanted me out of the industry, they were stunting my work.”

After admitting that she reads comments aimed at her, despite being warned not to, Ballas called some of the responses “hurtful” and called for people to be more “human-like” when they disagree.

She said: “It's a beautiful show, it's there to entertain, I'm there to do a job, I haven't got a mean bone in my body.

Fleur East and Vito Coppola were saved by Craig Revel-Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke (BBC/Guy Levy)

“You don't have to agree with me, I don't have to agree with the panel, they don't have to agree with me. That's okay. But we can still talk to each other in a human-like fashion.”

When asked why she decided to save Anderson over East, Ballas noted her belief that the complexity of Anderson’s routine had impressed her more.

“Samba is a very difficult dance to dance,” she reasoned. “His footwork was beautiful.”

Ballas continued: “I loved Fleur, she had this beautiful, beautiful frame. It was soft and it was elegant, but in the end, I went for the footwork.

Strictly Come Dancing continues on BBC One on Saturday and Sunday evenings.