How Strictly's Shirley Ballas really reacted to judging twist that takes away her power

Strictly viewers were in for a shock last night, after it was revealed that head judge Shirley Ballas no longer holds the power in the event of a tie on the results show. The shake-up was announced at the end of the first live show of the season last night, with hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly dropping the news, with celebrity contestants reacting.

But Shirley Ballas' response lead fans to think that there may be an ulterior motive from the head judge. Shirley, who has had the gruelling responsibility of deciding which couple in the bottom two should leave if the votes are tied after the dance off.

However, the change - which will start next week - will see the power shared between the four judges, with a different judge given the authority to send their choice home each week. A fan posted on X, posing the question: "Wonder how Shirley felt about the head judge twist?"

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Quoting the tweet, Shirley replied to say not only was she fine with it, but she actually welcomed the change. Professional dancer Shirley, 65, responded: "got a call and I said 'omg yes love it. I can’t wait to see Anton send someone home'," followed by a crying emoji.

Fans pondered the new set-up, with one sharing: "It’s a fun twist but it very rarely is a split vote so it’ll be interesting to see if it ever gets used." Another is glad the onus is off Shirley: "I was delighted,. I never liked you having all the pressure on you most weeks to then be criticised by fans if you chose their fave. It was hard to watch if I'm honest and hard to read the comments x"

A third thought Shirley might have had something to do with the revamp of the rules. They speculated: "I personally think you asked for it in the hope of getting less abuse like you do every year. You have to endure some awful vitriol on the socials. What a start to the competition it was, it’s going to be an amazing year!"

The celeb contestants also seemed concerned about the new format. "This changes everything!" exclaimed former Geordie Shore star Vicky Pattison.

Ross King added: "I just can't believe it!" Meanwhile, EastEnders star Balvinder Sopal told the cameras: "I was nervous, but this is another level. Already wanting out, YouTuber George Clarke laughed: "Is it too late to run away?"

Over previous years, not only has Shirley had to deal with making that often impossible decision, but she's also had to cope with the sometimes brutal social media reaction. In 2023, she revealed that every year she suffers with social media abuse and trolling from Strictly fans, so much so, that she hired a social media manager to help.

In an exclusive interview with the Mirror, the dance champion revealed previously that she hit an "all time low" because of the bullying. She said: “Last year I was struggling. It wasn’t just a little bit, it was a lot – the majority of it was in silence.

“I felt the abuse snowballed out of control and impacted me in such a negative way. I’m a pretty stoic person, and I tend to hold everything in. When it all kicked off, it seemed like it was larger than anything else.

“I was crying, I was emotional, but I was embarrassed about being so emotional. I didn’t want to talk to anybody about it. And that was an all-time low since I joined the show – it was the most negativity I’d ever experienced. The BBC were brilliant, checking in on me and offering counselling and support."

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