TV

Shirley Ballas makes blunder on first live Strictly show

But fans were thrilled with the new head judge

New head judge Shirley Ballas made her live show debut on Strictly Come Dancing last night and kicked things off by getting a contestant’s name wrong!

Despite the awkward gaffe, she was a huge hit with viewers who were big fans of Len Goodman’s replacement.

The mistake came after Holby City star Chizzy Akudolu took to the floor to dance a cha cha with her partner Pasha.

As the energy packed routine came to an end, Chizzy appeared before the judges ready to take their criticism and when it got to Shirley’s turn, she said:

“Let’s get busy with Lizzy!” Awkward.

She quickly realised her mistake and corrected herself by saying “Chizzy”, but the actress wasn’t fazed by the mishap at all, replying:

“I’ll change my name, my mum won’t mind!”

Read more: Strictly star to employ shock tactic to progress on the show

Fans thought the whole thing was hilarious and filled Twitter with comments.

Thankfully for Shirley the rest of the show went very well and the audience warmed to her immediately.

They shared their thoughts on social media about how much they liked her.

Read more: Strictly’s Gemma Atkinson has painful mishap on the way to the first live show


Carena Crawford
Associate Editor (Soaps)