Strictly Come Dancing fans are fuming with Shirley Ballas and some even want her replaced on the panel.
The head judge's comments on Sunday [October 9] have sparked outrage online, following a dramatic weekend on the BBC series which saw Richie Anderson and his dance partner Giovanni Pernice voted off the show after finding themselves in the bottom two alongside Fleur East and Vito Coppola.
The radio DJ and last year's winning dancer took to the dancefloor and performed the samba to Hakuna Matata from The Lion King one more time on Sunday night, before judges Craig Revel Horwood, Anton Du Beke and Motsi Mabuse all chose to save Fleur and Vito instead of them.
Despite Richie and Giovanni's fate already being sealed, Strictly Come Dancing presenter Tess Daly asked head judge Shirley who she would have saved, to which she replied: "Well with the two couples the public put in the bottom two I would have saved Richie and Giovanni."
Fans watching at home didn't take Shirley's comment well, despite it having no impact on the decision - also taking issue with the dancer's harsh criticism towards Ellie Taylor on Saturday night's show.
"Shirley Ballas should be removed from the panel," one angry fan mused on Twitter, with another adding: "I'm sorry, but can the producers replace Shirley next year?"
"Shirley would rather have saved the men darting around in animal costumes than the technically skilled and beautiful dancer Fleur," another pondered, as a fourth added: "Done my Strictly catch up and all I can say is: does someone want to have a word with Shirley???"
"Once again Shirley is dragging Strictly down with her obvious dislike of certain people. How can a "Head Judge" be so biased and so unprofessional that she allows her (not so hidden) personal feelings to affect the way she judges? It's wrong and unfair," another observation shared on social media reads.
Other Twitter users agreed, with another claiming: "Time for Shirley to be demoted from Head judge. Obvious that Craig should be it as the only one to be impartial, objective and fair. Tells it as it is without the over the top fluff."
Many also took to social media to praise professional dancer Nikita Kuzmin, as he appeared to call out Shirley comments on the BBC show.
The head judge of the BBC Latin and ballroom show criticised comedienne Ellie Taylor for her heel leads as she danced with Johannes Radebe earlier in the series. Later on, Ellie Simmonds and her partner Nikita Kuzmin took to the stage.
Whilst Ellie T received severe criticism for her heel leads, Ellie S was not given such harsh criticism by the head judge and angry fans fumed on social media over what happened. A seemingly annoyed Nikita seemed to call Shirley out as he clapped back at the judge.
Following their dance and critique, the pair headed upstairs to chat with Claudia Winkleman as Nikita took the moment to address a comment made by Shirley earlier in the programme. Comedienne Ellie Taylor was marked down by Shirley for her poor footwork.
"Just a little bit confused because Shirley said previously to Ellie T that there must be everything right with the feet in the ballroom," Nikita said as comedienne Ellie clapped in the background. His comment seemed to hint that he felt he and Ellie Simmonds had not been undermarked for their dance, despite facing the same issue with their footwork.
"NOT NIKITA CALLING OUT SHIRLEY ON HER CRITICISM OF HEEL LEADS FROM ELLIE TAYLOR AND PRAISE OF THEM FOR ELLIE SIMMONDS I am deceased #Strictly," one fan wrote.
Another added: "nikita calling out shirley has made my night, with a third writing: "Ooop not Nikita calling Shirley out #strictly."
