Shirley Ballas has hinted that her future on Strictly Come Dancing is uncertain after she hit an 'all time low'. The 'Queen of Latin' has been a judge - and head judge no less - on the hit BBC One dance show since 2017 following the departure of Len Goodman.
But after five years, Shirley has suggested she may never return to Strictly after trolls made her life hell. While talks are ongoing, the 62-year-old is yet to sign for a new series after the onslaught of abuse during the last series left her "crying and emotional".
The show's judging panel, which also includes Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke, often find their critique of the competing couples coming under first but Shirley has heartbreakingly said she hit "an all-time low" as the hate messages poured in after every show in the last series.
In an exclusive interview with the Mirror, the dance champion turned TV expert reveals: “Last year I was struggling. It wasn’t just a little bit, it was a lot – the majority of it was in silence. I felt the abuse snowballed out of control and impacted me in such a negative way. I’m a pretty stoic person, and I tend to hold everything in.
"When it all kicked off, it seemed like it was larger than anything else. I was crying, I was emotional, but I was embarrassed about being so emotional. I didn’t want to talk to anybody about it. And that was an all-time low since I joined the show – it was the most negativity I’d ever experienced."
However, she praised her employers, saying: "The BBC were brilliant, checking in on me and offering counselling and support." When asked if she has considered quitting the show, she replies carefully: “It was a difficult series, I’ll leave it at that."
She added: "After the Strictly tour I decided to take a break from TV and re-focus on my own industry for a while, to protect my sanity. I’m fortunate I have two jobs, running parallel, so it was much easier to take a break from TV and look after myself and my well-being.
"Will I go back to Strictly? I always take one step at a time. I absolutely love the job. If it was just that, and there was nothing else surrounding it, I can’t think of a more rewarding job to do."
And with the scale of the trolling she experienced – one in five messages were hate-filled – Shirley does have a plan in mind if she does return to the much-loved show. "If I am back on Strictly this year, I am going to have someone filtering my social media, so I don’t see every comment," she added to the Mirror.
"I will also try not to take things so personally as I’ve realised that I’m not alone when it comes to online trolling. I’ll say to myself, ‘Come on Shirley, you’re not the only one’. As they say, if the kitchen’s too hot, get out. But if it’s not, tie on the apron, do up your hair and get on with it."
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