Strictly’s Shirley Ballas met with abuse after choosing to save eliminated star Richie Anderson over Fleur East-Cydney Yeates-Entertainment – Metro

Shirley Ballas has come under fire for revealing she would have saved Richie from elimination (Picture: BBC)

Strictly Come Dancing head judge Shirley Ballas has been fiercely criticised after revealing she would have decided to save eliminated celebrity Richie Anderson over Fleur East following Sunday night’s dance off.

BBC presenter Richie and Giovanni Pernice became the second pair booted out of the BBC One competition after landing in the bottom two alongside singer Fleur.

After both couples performed for the panel once again, Bruno Tonioli, Motsi Mabuse, and Anton Du Beke delivered their verdict on who they wanted to keep.

With three votes to Fleur and Vito, it meant they had won the majority vote and would be staying in to perform next week.

Head Judge Shirley was then asked who she would have chosen, to which she said: ‘Well with the two couples the public put in the bottom two I would have saved Richie and Giovanni.’

Many viewers questioned Shirley’s decision, especially given that Fleur had received 29 points for her American smooth to Part Of Your World from The Little Mermaid with her dance partner Vito Coppola, when Richie had scored 27 for his samba to Hakuna Matata from the much-loved Disney movie The Lion King.

Fleur East was saved by the judges after performing against Richie in the dance off (Picture: BBC)

Richie and Giovanni were eliminated during Movies Week (Picture: BBC)

Amid the backlash, however, Shirley herself revealed she had been sent an abusive message from one particular viewer who didn’t agree with her choice.

Taking to social media, she shared a screenshot from the troll, that read: ‘You’re a f*cking t*at.’

Writing on Twitter, Shirley captioned her post: ‘Here we are again how sad’.

Some were quick to defend the Strictly judge and sent her supportive tweets in response.

‘Unnecessary,’ said one. ‘You do you, Shirley. Keep up the good work.’

Another added: ‘That must be so upsetting. Please take no notice. Easier said than done I know big hug.’

Others, however, continued to voice their surprise at Shirley’s verdict.

‘Some are shocked you’d save Richie,’ one said. ‘His routine looked so poor on TV Did we miss something that you saw?’

‘You are supposed to be impartial,’ another posted. ‘To say publicly you would have saved Richie is an insult. Grow up.’

There’s just no pleasing everyone.

Reflecting on his departure, Richie told host Tess Daly: ‘As a Strictly fan I always thought it was a magical thing to be a part of, and being here it really is and it’s not just the people that you see on camera, the judges, and you and (co-host Claudia Winkleman) Claud and the amazing people that I’ve got to meet on this show.

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‘The people behind the scenes in hair, make-up, costume, Tasha our runner, Stef, Jas, everybody. I also want to thank this guy [Giovanni] as well, he’s been so amazing, and I feel so lucky that I’ve got to dance with you every day.

‘Not only are you a fantastic dancer but you are also a fantastic guy on top of that. I want to thank all my family and friends and my other half Dean, who is in the audience, I love you so much.’

Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday at 6.30pm on BBC One.

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