Shirley Ballas has been accused of “objectifying” Pete Wicks following his latest performance on Strictly Come Dancing.
Wicks performed a racy cha cha cha with partner Jowita Przystal to Right Said Fred’s song, I’m Too Sexy, during Saturday night’s episode of the BBC dance competition.
The TOWIE alum, 46, wore tight pink leather trousers and playfully swivelled his hips with Przystal during the routine.
After the performance, host Tess Daly laughed and gestured to Ballas, exclaiming: “Shirley was just loving every moment, look at her!”
The flustered head judge burst out laughing and pretended to fan herself, before saying: “Oh my God. Let me think... I'll calm myself down.”
She went on, “You had some very nice isolation,” before fellow judge Anton Du Beke teased: “Isolation of what?”
Ballas, 64, said, “Isolation of the neckline,” to which Du Beke said in mock-indignation: “Neckline!”
Ballas then swatted playfully at her colleague and said: “Shut up, Anton.”
The former English ballroom dancer praised Pete’s “Cuban break” during the routine, and added, grinning, “Your hips were swinging left to right,” while mimicking the motion with her hands.
“It was very entertaining. I don't think I'm ever going to forget this evening for as long as I live, darling. Well done,” she concluded.
While Wicks - who scored 27 out of 40 - laughed and appeared flattered by Ballas’ commentary, viewers at home were less than impressed.
“Actually, I think the one gripe that I have with tonight's show was the objectification of Pete from Shirley,” one wrote on Reddit.
“Tsk tsk tsk, I am a fan of treating men and women alike as objects to be leered at and desired. Not in my household.”
Another added: “Imagine if, instead of Shirley talking about a guy's buttocks popping in and out, we'd had Anton talking about a woman's t**s doing the same. It's unthinkable that it wouldn't be called out immediately.”
A third posted: “If Shirley were a man she'd have been sacked by the BBC ten times over by now.”
The Standard has contacted the BBC for comment.
Ballas further complimented Wicks’ performance during an appearance on ITV chat show, Loose Women, on Monday.
She said of his tight outfit: "I think it got everybody into a bit of a flutter. The thing about Pete is he gives 100 per cent.
“When he started at the beginning of the show as with most of them you don't know where people are going to go on their journey. What I love about him is he embraces anything that is thrown at him.
Ballas added: "But he did catch us all off guard, I have to say. Motsi (Mabuse) was giving me a little (prod) under the table."
