Shirley Ballas to return to Strictly despite ‘truly awful abuse’ from viewers
BBC has announced judging line-up for forthcoming series
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Your support makes all the difference.Shirley Ballas’ future with Strictly Come Dancing has been decided weeks after hinting she might quit.
Ballas has been a judge on the BBC dancing competition since 2017, having been brought on to replace Len Goodman as head judge.
However, Ballas suggested she was considering stepping away from the series after reaching an “all-time low” during the 2022 series.
“Last year, I was struggling,” she told The Mirror last month, adding: “It wasn’t just a little bit, it was a lot – the majority of it was in silence.”
Ballas said she received “truly awful” messages from online trolls, stating: “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 asked whether the online abuse would ever cause Ballas to quit, she said: “It was a difficult series, I’ll leave it at that.”
However, Ballas has decided to sign on for another series, with the BBC announcing her among the judging and presenting line-up for the forthcoming series, which is set to kick off in September.
While discussing the negative comments she received, Ballas commended the BBC for checking in on her regularly.
Ballas will return to judge alongside Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke.
Meanwhile, Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman will be hosting the series once again.
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