Shirley Ballas accused of having ‘bias towards male contestants’ over Ellie Taylor remarks

express.co.uk:

Shirley Ballas, 62, faces accusations of “bias” after the Strictly Come Dancing head judge gave Ellie Taylor a five out of 10 points for her performance on Saturday night.The comedian and her partner Johannes Radebe paid homage to Cher in the film Mermaids for Movie Week.However, Shirley was left unimpressed as she stated she was not accepting “heel leads” going forward in the BBC hit show.Shirley said: "We are going into week three.“You did a natural top, and the first step of every step was a heel lead.“So as of today, I’m not accepting - and that goes for everybody else - I am not accepting any heel leads.”But Shirley’s criticism of Ellie sparked debate on social media, as Strictly viewers voiced their opinion on her remarks.Some online users claimed Shirley was biased towards male contestants, while others defended the judge in her scoring.Wandoful said: “Shirley literally needs to take a chill pill.“It’s week 3, not week 10.Think it’s cruel the way she speaks to the female contestants but not the male ones…Wonder why that is… #Strictly”Scddevereaux added: “I hope Ellie Taylor knows how much we love her and how upset we are at how Shirley speaks to her #Strictly”Scddaylight tweeted: “Shirley being extremely critical of Ellie T but giving Richie an 8 is frustrating and shows her bias towards male contestants and I’m sick of it  #Strictly”Mitchener1Ryan responded: “Nah I’m not buying this take, I thought Ellie danced okay… and her critique was constructive.”Itsamberc_ argued: “In fairness though Ellie isn't great.“The first thing you learn in cha cha is no heel leads and she did so many.“She's not being harsh, she's being honest so she can improve which is what a judge does I don't understand the hate tbh.”But in spite.