Strictly Come Dancing’s newest judge, Shirley Ballas, made an embarrassing blunder on last night’s show when she called one of the contestants by the wrong name.
Shirley, who joined the show at the start of this series as head judge, left viewers baffled when she seemed to forget contestant Charlotte Hawkins’ name.
After the Good Morning Britain presenter performed a jive with dance partner Brendan Cole, the judging panel were quick to give feedback on how much of an improvement she had made.
However, things got a little awkward when Wallasey-born Shirley addressed Charlotte as “Mollie”, mistaking her for fellow contestant Mollie King.
Read more: Shirley Ballas makes blunder on first live Strictly show
She said: “Mollie, we had nine sets of eight before we got started, which I can’t criticise other people for and not you.
“But what I did quite like is that you did quite a nice slip on your standing foot off a flat foot.
“You had one or two mistakes going on in there but definitely an improvement for me.”
The error wasn’t acknowledged on the show, but eagle-eyed fans took to Twitter to point out the blunder.
One wrote: “Shirley Ballas has now twice got celebs name wrong. Should write them down. Len would remember.”
Another added: “Shirley on Females celebs: names aren’t even important enough to remember. On Male celebs: here’s my intimate dream about you” [sic]
This isn’t the first time Shirley has forgotten one of the contestants’ names. She mistakengly called Holby City star Chizzy Akudolu “Lizzy” on Strictly’s opening show.
Read more: Strictly’s Alexandra Burke in tears for late mother during live show
Last night’s episode also saw the season’s first ’10’ score, with Alexandra Burke gaining an amazing final score of 39. The beautiful singer paid tribute to her late mother who passed away earlier this year, making for an emotional show.
Emmerdale actress Gemma Atkinson also impressed the judges with a spectacular paso doble, also landing herself a top spot with 35 points.
Chef Simon Rimmer came in joint last alongside Charlotte last on the leaderboard with only 19 points for his samba which judge Bruno Tonioli described as “more Benidorm than Brazil”.