Appearing at Monday night’s Pride Of Britain Awards, head Strictly judge Shirley Ballas made sure she stood by her decision to eliminate Catherine Tyldesley’s from the dancing show in favour of Mike Bushell over the weekend.
Shirley even went so far as to hint that viewers of the show – who have been complaining about the decision in their droves since Sunday night – are responsible, not her.
Speaking to The Sun on the red carpet at Monday’s ceremony, held at London’s Grosvenor House, the sassy judge said: ‘Every time someone goes out someone gets upset. I have one question – why was Catherine in the bottom two?
Not her fault? Appearing at Monday night’s Pride Of Britain Awards, head Strictly judge Shirley Ballas made sure she stood by her decision to eliminate Catherine Tyldesley’s from the dancing show in favour of Mike Bushell over the weekend
Passing the buck? Shirley even went so far as to hint that viewers of the show – who have been complaining about the decision in their droves since Sunday night – are responsible for Catherine’s untimely exit
‘I stand by my decision. Why was she there in bottom two? You can’t complain if it ends up like that.
‘It’s about what they do there and then. And I know I absolutely made the right decision. Every week we could have the same conversation.’
Hours before this, Catherine made a thinly-veiled dig at the judge by retweeting a tweet declaring she was ‘the better dancer by far’ after finding herself in the bottom two with Mike and his partner Katya Jones.
Catherine’s exit caused shock-waves among viewers at home with many branding the show a fix and claiming Mike ‘avoided the chop because he works for the BBC‘.
The sassy judge said: ‘Every time someone goes out someone gets upset. I have one question – why was Catherine in the bottom two?’
Last night: Katya Jones dazzled in a plunging satin gown as she joined Mike on the red carpet at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on Monday, where Shirley defended her decision to save the pair
Seemingly giving her take on the situation, Catherine, 36, retweeted: ‘Sorry but @Cath_Tyledesley did not deserve to go tonight in @bbcstrictly… she was the better dance by far..
‘Hold your head up high my darling Cath… you’ve been a joy to watch from start to finish. Big love to you and @jojo_radebe.’
Prior to this, taking to Twitter herself, Shirley defended her decision to eliminate Catherine as she hit back at the trolls and liked tweets about how angry viewers should ‘grow up’.
Cryptic: Catherine made a thinly-veiled dig at the Strictly Come Dancing judges after being eliminated from the competition on Sunday night
Frustrated: The actress, 36, liked a tweet saying she was ‘the better dancer by far’ after finding herself in the bottom two with Mike Bushell and his partner Katya Jones
Upset: Seemingly giving her take on the situation, Catherine liked the tweet: ‘Sorry but Catherine did not deserve to go tonight in @bbcstrictly. She was the better dance by far’
One tweet she liked said: ‘Seeing the vitriol aimed at Shirley Ballas tonight by #strictly viewers who are – I presume – supposed to be adults is really quite sickening.
‘It’s just a bit of fluffy Saturday night telly, people. FFS, grow up!’
She also liked a tweet from a fan, which read: ‘I’m sure you’re going to get lots of nasty messages from people hiding behind a keyboard or a phone, you have a decision to make and you made it, people may not agree (myself included) but that is why your in that seat. Don’t let the haters get to you’.
Shock: Catherine’s exit caused shock-waves among viewers at home with many branding the show a fix and claiming Mike ‘avoided the chop because he works for the BBC’
And fellow judge Craig Revel Horwood also leapt to Shirley’s defense, insisting viewers are to blame for Catherine and Johannes exit.
He told fans: ‘If you’re that worried about it, vote. You can only judge what you see in that one minute thirty, and in my opinion, Mike had the cleaner dance.
‘It’s quite simple and you know if it was another day or if Catherine was doing a rumba for instance, against his tango, then she would have won it. But you know it’s what happens on the day.’
Bottom of the leaderboard: Catherine and Johannes failed to impress the judges when they performed their Cha Cha once again at the end of the show’s Halloween Week,
Catherine and Johannes failed to impress the judges when they performed their Cha Cha once again at the end of the show’s Halloween Week, after scraping the bottom of the leaderboard with a score of 24 out of a possible 40.
After the axing, Mike defiantly appeared on BBC Breakfast to defend himself, already at rehearsals for his next dance.
He said: ‘It’s an entertainment show, we’re all trying our best, you’re not really competing against anybody else, you compete against yourself to try and learn to get better and better each week, even if its just learning a couple of new steps.
Taking a stand: After the axing, Mike defiantly appeared on BBC Breakfast to defend himself, already at rehearsals for his next dance
‘As a non-dancer all I can do is put the hours in, do my best and get through it. You have to rise above the abuse on social media, that’s one of the sad things about social media.
‘All you can do is do your best, accept the judges’ decision and move on. Johannes and Catherine are lovely people, I didn’t want to see them go but someone has to go.
‘It’s like football – you have to accept the referee’s decision. [The judges] are the best judges in the world, they do know what they’re talking about, if they’d sent me home that would have been the best decision, I can’t get involved in any of that.’
Devastated: Catherine was in tears when judges cast the decision to axe her from the competition
