Strictly judge Shirley Ballas says she was unfairly blamed for Lewis Cope elimination

Shirley Ballas has claimed she received the brunt of the blame for Lewis Cope’s elimination from Strictly Come Dancing.

Former Emmerdale star Cope was sent home from the BBC series in the quarter-finals despite being a favourite to win the show.

Ballas, who has been a judge on the BBC series since 2017, said she was “called every name in the book” after the shock, having told him his performance hadn’t been his best.

“I was given the most scathing write-up by a journalist and called every name in the book – she said that I should be ashamed of myself because Lewis went home,” Ballas told the i.

“After his dance, I just said: ‘It wasn’t your best day’ – which it wasn’t. Then they went to Craig [Revel Horwood], who said the same thing. He scored him an eight, I gave him a nine, but I was blamed for him going home. I think it is disgraceful that somebody would write that.”

Ballas said she faces misogynistic criticism, calling it “absolutely, totally and utterly out of order”.

“Don’t pick on women when there’s a man who gave an eight and I gave a nine,” she stated, adding that her fellow judge Motsi Mabuse receives similar abuse while the male judges, Revel Horwood and Anton Du Beke get away unscathed.

“People say horrible things to Motsi. I can’t even repeat them, but just awful things you wouldn’t think could come out of somebody’s mouth. There are sexually explicit things we have to put up with too. But Craig and Anton, they’re kings in many people’s eyes.”

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Her comments arrive after finalist Amber Davies hit out at negative comments she’s received for her previous dancing experience.

The former reality star’s participation in the 2025 edition of the BBC competition led to a debate due to her previous experience in West End musicals, and Davies has faced increased criticism in recent weeks.

Ahead of the finale on Saturday (20 December), Davies has said that while she “understands where people are coming from”, she believes viewers “don’t want to warm to” her and are mistaking her confidence for arrogance.

“I didn’t know what my purpose was on Strictly until I realised that I was getting a lot of negative comments for being good,” she told The Mirror.

“I can’t believe I have to say this in 2025, but being ambitious as a woman, being confident, having dreams and working hard does not mean you are stuck up. It doesn’t mean you are arrogant. I want to change that. It shouldn’t even be the narrative.”

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She continued: “I’ve had lots of people say, ‘I can’t warm to her.’ It’s because they don’t want to warm to me. That’s it.”