Strictly star Dan Walker defends Shirley Ballas from "horrible" online trolls

"Just be nice!"

By Iona Rowan

14 Dec 2022

Former Strictly Come Dancing contestant Dan Walker has defended head judge Shirley Ballas from "horrible" online trolls.

Coronation Street's Will Mellor was the latest celebrity to be eliminated from the BBC show, having failed to impress the judges with his Paso Doble in the dance-off against Fleur East on Monday night.

Ballas cast the deciding vote to send him home, to which she received a torrent of abuse on social media from upset fans.

will mellor and nancy xu, strictly come dancing 2022, semi final

BBC

Taking to Twitter to defend Ballas, Walker wrote: "Can people please lay off @ShirleyBallas? It’s ok to disagree but some of the bile & hatred on here is horrible.

"She’s been dancing her whole life, has won a gallon of titles and loves and cares for what she does. Just be nice! PS I’m speaking as someone who she booted out."

Ballas later shared an inspirational video reminding her followers to surround themselves with positive people and thanked Dan for coming to her defence.

She tweeted: "This is beautiful. Thank you for all the positive messages I received 1000s overwhelming I read them all hard to reply to them all. Handful of haters as usual sad people I feel for them. ⁦@mrdanwalker⁩ love you to the moon and back. Have a great week."

strictly come dancing head judge shirley ballas sitting at a table on the dance floor

BBC

Following their elimination, pro dancer Nancy Xu shared her pride in her celebrity partner Will Mellor, sharing on Instagram: "The memories we made in this journey are beyond everything. I will hold them in a very special place in the deepest part of my heart. I adored this partnership so so much.

"Thank you thank you thank you all for the support and votes, all the positive comments, messages and your time, this meant a lot to me."

Strictly Come Dancing's final airs on Saturday (December 17) at 7.05pm on BBC One, while spin-off show Strictly: It Takes Two airs on weeknights on BBC Two. Both shows also stream on BBC iPlayer.

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