‘Strictly’ judge Ballas braces for lockdown trolls as show returns
THE Strictly Come Dancing j udge Shirley Ballas says she is braced for social media trolling to be worse this series because people are at home with nothing to do due to coronavirus.
The head judge, 60, said she has become used to receiving abuse online but fears it could be worse than ever in the run-up to the show’s return.
She revealed: “Going into this next phase of Strictly, I wouldn’t be surprised if the trolling is 10 times worse because people are in l ockdown, because we may go into a second lockdown, and heaven help us if we do, and people are sat at home with nothing more to do.”
Ballas, who is publicising her memoir Behind the Sequins, recalled how the trolling began when she joined the show in 2017.
She said: “The first year it was very difficult, when people tell you ‘ You’ve got a chest like a Seville orange that’s been eaten by a thousand slugs. Ugly b****, die,’ and people doing coffins with your head on them. We [she and her mother] talked about whether I should continue, given the invasion of privacy, but my mother decided we needed to take everything with a sense of humour.
“So when they laugh at me or call me stupid or thick, I just have to let it go.”
Despite the abuse, Ballas admitted she could not bring herself not to follow social media. She said: “I read it and move on from it. Even if I don’t read it, there are plenty of people in my industry who will send it to me.”
She also received a death threat more recently, delivered by hand to where she was appearing in pantomime, she revealed in the book.
It depicted a figure of her digging her own grave, with the message, “Do you realise how much you are hated? The country hates you. How did they ever give a job to someone like you, you old witch”, she wrote.
Coming from a tough housing estate in the Wirral, and with all the bullying she received over her years in the dance industry, she has developed a thick skin, she revealed in the book, noting that while the taunting hurts, she would not show it.
This year’s Strictly will be shorter than usual, due to the pandemic.
The launch show will air on October 17, while the first live show will be broadcast on October 24.
Due to the continuing uncertainty caused by the coronavirus crisis, producers are planning for multiple audience scenarios.
Among the contestants to appear on the show are comedian Bill Bailey, former home secretary Jacqui Smith, actress Caroline Quentin, reality star Jamie Laing and boxer Nicola Adams, who will compete on Strictly as part of the BBC show’s first samesex couple.