Shirley’s Strictly vile hand-delivered note
8 out of 10 Cats has bagged the cream of comedy, with as a new team captain. The Canadian comic, who’s no stranger to the show, will go head-to-head with when it returns this week. Katherine, who takes over from said: “By now, everyone knows I have inf
8 Out of 10 Cats, E4, Tuesday, 9pm
is taking on the cruel trolls after getting hand-delivered hate mail.
The Strictly Come Dancing judge was left shaken after receiving the nasty note at the theatre where she is performing in Jack and the Beanstalk.
In it, the twisted writer call Shirley a “gob ***** ” and made a horrible slur about her weight, telling her to “remove your head from your huge fat a ******* ”.
Shirley, 59, called the person out yesterday, describing it as an “upsetting” incident.
She also got a constant stream of online abuse when she was on Strictly last month, with people even telling her to kill herself.
“I had quite a lot of bullying on Strictly this time and my inbox on Instagram was full of horrific and horrendous message,” she said in a video message to fans. “But this has gone a step further now.”
She posted the letter, which also read: “It was a very sad day when you were appointed a judge on Strictly.”
But Shirley, Mother Nature at the Darlington Hippodrome, Co Durham, refused to let it get her down and encouraged others to stand up to bullies. “My message for young people out there who receive an awful message... the issue is the other person’s issue, not ours. Even though I do still find it quite upsetting, to have to go and perform then read something like this from somebody who doesn’t know me.
“The message today is to be strong going into 2020. Really, really, really love yourself and don’t be fazed by the bullies.”
Fellow judge Motsi Mabuse sent Shirley support.
Motsi, 38, who also suffered online abuse, called it “cowardly” adding “Positive vibes for 2020 please.”
Stay strong, Shirl.
added: “Nobody will beat Ant and Dec.”
“It’d be nice to get 40, wouldn’t it?” said Dec.
Talking about last year’s win, Ant told: “With everything that happened in my life I didn’t think people would vote. It was a lovely message from the audience.”
The NTAs Celebrate 25 Years, ITV, Tuesday, 9pm
New Crackerjack hosts
and are cracking under the pressure of bringing back the adored children’s show.
The CBBC favourites will front a revamped version of the teatime telly treat after a 35-year hiatus.
But Mark confided: “We’re honoured to bring back such an iconic show but it’s very scary.”
Sam agreed: “There’s a lot of pressure.
“We were shocked by the amount of people talking about it. The span of people is huge.
“It’s in a lot people’s hearts.”
New Crackerjack starts on CBBC on January 17 at 6pm
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