Shirley Ballas divided viewers of the US version of Strictly Come Dancing after giving a polarising verdict on some of the dancers' performances during a guest judging spot.
The dancer appeared on the latest episode of Dancing With The Stars for their Halloween special, where fans accused her of judging the celebrities harsher than her co-stars. For example, 10 Things I Hate About You actress Julia Stiles received an eight from the judges, but a four from guest Shirley, the same as fellow contestant Tatyana Ali.
Fans Accuse Shirley of Bias
Furious fans flocked to social media to complain about her, with some even accusing her of having a bias. One person said that they "gasped" when Shirley gave her verdict, while another fan said: "Giving Connor an 8 but Tatyana a 4 I hate Shirley and picking and choosing her favs to score high."
A third joined in: "Shirley Ballas you better give every man that dances from now on a 2 to compensate. Tatyana IS NOT going home this week."
Defence of the Judging
However, some people pointed out that quite a few of the male contestants were given contemporary or jazz routines, which is not particularly Shirley's forte as a latin and ballroom trained dancer.
Someone said: "Y'all cannot blame Shirley for this." "She is giving good critiques and is rightfully judging harshly. The problem is the producers giving half the people contemporary/jazz because there's a lot less to criticise and basically everyone gets at least a 7 just for showing up."
Shirley's Response
While on Good Morning America, Shirley clapped back at the criticism: "To me, those scores are actually still quite good because they're not twos and threes!" "Four, fives, and sixes to me is generally a good score." "You're on a good track and then when you get to sevens, eights, and nines, you've really mastered your craft."
