13 October 2023 , 13:33
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Strictly Come Dancing fans are convinced there is a feud between professional dancer Karen Hauer and chief judge Shirley Ballas rumbling behind the scenes of the hit BBC show.
Speculation was ignited on Friday when 41-year-old Karen was a guest on ITV’s Good Morning Britain alongside radio presenter Eddie Kadi, 40. While on the morning news show, Karen suggested the judges on the long-running BBC talent show had not appreciated the moves of her and Eddie last weekend.
In week two, the duo gave a rousing performance to the song Ríe y Llora by iconic latin singer Celia Cruz while showcasing their fancy footwork. But they failed to land impressive scores - scraping a total of just 21 after being awarded 3, 6, 5 and 7 points from the judges.
Clearly still not over the low scores, Karen aired her grievance on the rival TV channel - and viewers think she showed evidence of having beef with 63-year-old Shirley in particular. Karen said: "I think the judges had a different vision of what was happening.
Strictly fans think Karen Hauer has beef with one of the judges (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Viewers think there is tension between the dancer and Shirley Ballas (BBC/Ray Burmiston)“And obviously the way that we were expressing ourselves with the Cha Cha was not what they are used to seeing in the show. But it was a bit different for us, we wanted to enjoy ourselves. We wanted to show a different side to the Cha Cha. But the fact that it all turned around - that's the amazing thing about Strictly though."
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Strictly fans took to Reddit to analyse Karen’s comments - while fuelling speculation she is not seeing eye-to-eye with Shirley. One suggested: “there was some backstage drama after that. I’ve always got the impression that Shirley and Karen don’t get along, possibly because Shirley was a mentor to Kevin Clifton and Karen and Kevin obviously divorced.”
Another commented: “Eddie should not have been caught in the crossfire. He has no control over the choreography so critiquing him on that and not giving him any actual feedback on his performance is ridiculous. Craig in particular said nothing about Eddies performance.”
Karen is currently partnered with Eddie Kadi (PA)And a further fan wrote: “I mean I do find it annoying when the criticism is focused on the choreography as that’s out of the celebs hands." While Karen and Eddie seemed to fumble through the second week, they scored high the week after.
Following their couple’s choice performance, where they danced to Will Smith’s song Men In Black, the pair were rewarded with scores of 8s and one 10 giving a total of 34. This weekend the pair will perform an American Smooth routine to the sound of Sex Bomb by Sir Tom Jones.
Strictly Come Dancing continues on BBC One on Saturday night at 6:30pm and via BBC iPlayer.