 While it's doubtful that will happen, the ordeal has left her so fragile that she's blocked out three weeks in her diary to 'take care' of her mental health following the show's final in December. 'The start of that kicked off a whole flurry of feelings for me,' says Shirley, tentatively. 'I'm always trying to figure out a way to word things so the audience will understand. "I try to do it with encouragement – I'm fair, I'm feisty, I try to be fun. But if you're fun, you're flirting. If you're fair, they think you're a crook. '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 [Anderson] and Fleur in the bottom two, you did that, not me.' The Strictly head judge is taking a break for her mental health in December (Image: DAVID ENGLISH) Shirley says she has been crying for weeks over cruel comments (Image: DAVID ENGLISH) The backlash has hit Shirley so hard that she's struggled to){kind=link}
In the past three weeks, Shirley Ballas has been branded “sexist” towards singer Fleur East, “jealous” of TV star Kym Marsh and is now the bookies’ favourite to get sacked by 2023
Shirley Ballas is dressed down in a black tracksuit and tucking into a basket of French fries following our photo shoot at an east London studio.
She cuts a more casual figure than the one we’re used to seeing light up our TV screens each weekend, and there’s an air of vulnerability about the star who’s typically so feisty and vivacious when on the Strictly judging panel.
It’s her sixth season on the BBC show, which she’s likened to “rainbows” coming out every Saturday.
But recently dark clouds have been swirling over the ballroom queen, who has become the target of relentless online abuse.