Shirley Ballas appeared to be mocked by Julia Stiles' family during her guest stint as a judge on Dancing With The Stars. The Strictly Come Dancing judge travelled to the United States to sit on the panel of the US version of the show, following in the footsteps of Bruno Tonioli, who judges on the American programme after his successful run on the UK edition.
Ballas is expected to continue her role on the UK version for now, but reports suggest she could appear on Dancing With The Stars again if the guest stint goes well, with fears she may make the permanent change. Her son Mark is one of the professional dancers on the US show and is currently partnered with Love Island star Maura Higgins.
Halloween Tango Sparks Backlash
Julia Stiles and her partner Ezra Sosa performed a Halloween-themed Argentine Tango, drawing cheers from the audience. Ballas was first to give feedback, telling the pair: "Well first of all, I felt the conversation between the two of you was quite nice."
She continued: "But generally overall, I didn't find there was much tracing on the floor. I found the ponchos and gauchos too slow not fast enough. I need sharper controlled legs. Also posture wise, it wasn't quite in the right place for Argentine Tango for me."
As she wrapped up her comments, she told the pair it was a "good start, well done", but that did not placate Julia's supporters. The camera then panned to one of Julia's relatives sticking their tongue out at Ballas from the audience.
Score and Reaction
Stiles scored a total of 26 points, with a 4 from Ballas and 7s and 8s from the rest of the judges. Her lower score was booed by the audience, and host Julianne Hough even commented on how Ballas "wasn't messing" with her plan to give out "horror scores".
Ballas previously explained how she would fulfil both roles this week but ruled out an exit from Strictly. "I'll do Strictly and then I'll fly over to the US and judge that, then come back again. So it's double duty this year. That was a job I've always wanted. It's been on my wish list," she shared.
"I feel that Dancing With The Stars will be a slightly different audience. I think I can probably be more strict. It's going to be very interesting. But I'm 100% not leaving Strictly!"
