Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas has hit back at repeated claims from fans of a ‘fix’ behind closed doors on the BBC One ballroom dancing show.
The head judge shared details of the various factors she takes into account when judging who to send home each week, after Will Mellor became the latest contestant to exit the show.
The 62-year-old appeared on This Morning on Friday ahead of the show’s grand finale this weekend and said sending the Coronation Street star home was the ‘hardest decision’ thus far.
Sitting down with This Morning hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary, Shirley responded to the fan accusations during this series of a ‘fix’, saying she makes decisions based on a ‘whole list’ of notes from the start of the competition’s run.
Shirley said: “Normally when we have to send somebody it's very clear, it's very obvious when we have to.
“But I have to say, this last week, sending somebody home was very, very difficult as I thought the judges would agree on somebody and they didn't so it was left to me.
“It was difficult because they all tried so hard. Will was a superstar in his own right, it is really, really just small details.
“You look at both couples and it just becomes a preference at the end of the day, I'm weighing up these mistakes with those mistakes.
“I have a whole list of things that perhaps the general public don't see to come to my conclusion, which is never easy to do.”
Strictly Come Dancing has confirmed its line-up for the 2022 final of the BBC One ballroom show after Will Mellor became the latest star to be eliminated.
The show is now hurtling towards the grand finale next weekend after another glitter-filled run on BBC One, which has faced disruption in recent weeks due to the Qatar World Cup.
The stars that have successfully clinched places in the final are Molly Rainford, Fleur East, Helen Skelton and Hamza Yassin, who are now all in with a chance of winning the Glitterball trophy.
The 20th Strictly final will be hosted by duo Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman just a week before Christmas on Saturday, December 17, and sitting on the judging panel is Shirley, Motsi Mabuse, Craig Revel Horwood and Anton Du Beke.
Former Blue Peter presenter Helen has seen her odds of winning this year's Strictly Come Dancing slashed, according to William Hill.
However, wildlife presenter Hamza remains the bookie's favourite to lift the Glitterball trophy this series as he is priced at 8-13.
The remaining four couples will take to the dancefloor next week for the final time in the hopes of becoming the pair to lift the Glitterball Trophy when Strictly Come Dancing: The Final airs live on December 17.
Strictly returns for the final at 7.15pm on Saturday on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
