Strictly's Shirley Ballas hits back at abuse as viewers call out her decision making

express.co.uk:

Strictly Come Dancing, Shirley Ballas, 62, has the final say on which couple goes home in the event of a tie between her co-judges Craig Revel Horwood, Anton Du Beke and Motsi Mabuse.So far this series, she hasn't had to decide who goes home in the dance-off, but admitted she has disagreed with the other panellists over their decisions.Last weekend, Shirley said she would've sent Fleur East home over Richie Anderson, after her fellow judges opted to save the singer.Despite the most favourable contestant going through, this didn't stop Shirley from receiving abuse.Following the show on Saturday night, she shared a message from an Instagram user who branded her a "f*****g t**t".In view of her 79,000 followers, she wrote: "Here we are again how sad."Michael J Fox in Back to the Future reunion amid Parkinson's battleAnother told Shirley she was "very disappointing" on Strictly and claimed she made his daughter cry."Thanks a lot you p***k," the message concluded.Shirley told her fans that such messages were just "the mild ones" in her inbox.It's not the first time the professional dancer has received abuse during her time on the panel.She previously admitted she was hurt by backlash last year after she chose to save Jamie Laing over Ranvir Singh.She wrote on social media: "This is just one of the hundreds of messages sent to me after last night’s incredibly tough decision."The barrage of hatred that I have received is truly devastating and has hurt me to the core."But I would have hoped that after the year we have all faced, and those we have lost - not just to covid - we would have learned to be kind to others."Thank you to all those who have sent me messages of support, you have gone one way in restoring my faith in.