Strictly's Shirley Ballas 'hires expert to ward off trolls' after threat to quit

29 July 2023 , 21:18

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Shirley nearly quit Strictly after vile trolling

Shirley Ballas is said to have hired an expert to help her deal with online trolling after she considered quitting Strictly. The head judge on the BBC dancing show was bombarded with so many nasty messages during last year's series, she has decided to take action.

The dancer, 62, has hired a social media manager to ward off the abuse. They will filter her comment sections on her social media accounts so Shirley won't have to see the cruel messages. Shirley was hesitant to sign up for another series after trolls made her life hell last year.

She admitted she was in tears and at “an all-time low” as hate messages poured in after every show in the last series. Irate fans questioned her decisions, accused her of ageism and sexism, and took cruel swipes at her appearance. Earlier this year, Shirley told The Mirror how she was “hugely struggling” with the impact of trolling.

Head judge Shirley nearly quit due to the trolling (BBC/Guy Levy)

“After years of taunts, she is taking control of the situation. Shirley won’t have to read the nastiness anymore. It means she can focus on her job as head judge," a source told the Daily Star. Speaking to the Mirror last year, Shirley said: “Last year I was struggling. It wasn’t just a little bit, it was a lot – the majority of it was in silence. I felt the abuse snowballed out of control and impacted me in such a negative way. I’m a pretty stoic person, and I tend to hold everything in. When it all kicked off, it seemed like it was larger than anything else.

“I was crying, I was emotional, but I was embarrassed about being so emotional. I didn’t want to talk to anybody about it. And that was an all-time low since I joined the show – it was the most negativity I’d ever experienced. The BBC were brilliant, checking in on me and offering counselling and support.”

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Asked if she has considered quitting the show, she replied: “It was a difficult series, I’ll leave it at that. After the Strictly tour I decided to take a break from TV and re-focus on my own industry for a while, to protect my sanity. I’m fortunate I have two jobs, running parallel, so it was much easier to take a break from TV and look after myself and my well-being.

“Will I go back to Strictly? I always take one step at a time. I absolutely love the job. If it was just that, and there was nothing else surrounding it, I can’t think of a more rewarding job to do.” Shirley replaced Len Goodman as head judge in 2017.

The abusive messages mainly came over her casting vote in the Strictly dance-offs. “At one point I had thousands of messages coming in if I sent someone home. Some of the messages were truly awful. It didn’t matter what I did, I didn’t like old people, I didn’t like young people, I didn’t like men, I didn’t like women. I just felt like no matter what I said, I couldn’t win."

Mia O'Hare