Strictly judge Shirley Ballas has revealed her ‘secret tears’ on the show amid the backlash she’s been receiving.
The head judge, 62, has faced much criticism over recent weeks for her feedback to some of the contestants.
She was accused of being ‘sexist’ towards Fleur East and some viewers even called for her to be sacked after she voted to save Richie Anderson over Fleur.
Now, Shirley has spoken about the backlash she has received and called the trolling this year “worse”.
Shirley Ballas on Strictly
Speaking to the Mirror, Shirley said: “Every year I get a little bit [of trolling], but this year it’s worse. Someone said, ‘When can we vote you off the show?’ You know that thing they had for Holly [Willoughby] and Phil [Schofield] when they did a petition?
“You couldn’t be further from sexist than I am. If you chose to put Richie and Fleur in the bottom two, you did that, not me.”
The star added that she has even struggled to hold it together during filming.
And this didn’t go unnoticed by her fellow judge and friend, Anton Du Beke.
She said: “I haven’t had a good couple of weeks and I was having this secret tear and from the side he could see it. He took his little handkerchief out of his top pocket and told me to take it.”
Shirley said her mother has “washed it and pressed it and we’ll take it back to him”.
The star revealed her partner Danny has even noticed a “differencec in my mental health and emotional state”.
Danny said to her that he thinks she is “ready for a break” so Shirley revealed she’s taking three weeks off at Christmas.
Shirley to take break
She insisted she needs to “take care of myself a little bit more”.
I haven’t had a good couple of weeks and I was having this secret tear and from the side he could see it.
Recently, professional dancer Dianne Buswell defended Shirley following a blunder on the show.
Shirley accidentally called Dianne by the wrong name as viewers pointed out she said “Diana”.
However, taking to Instagram at the weekend, Dianne said: “What does make me upset is seeing someone being bullied online.
“We are all human and doing the best we can. Let’s please be kind to one another and not put each other down.”
Shirley will return to Strictly Come Dancing this weekend, on BBC One, from 6:55pm.
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