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Brendan Cole’s wife takes swipe at Strictly judge

She has her man's back!

We all know Strictly Come Dancing pro Brendan Cole has very publicly clashed with head judge Shirley Ballas over the last couple of weeks.

And, unsurprisingly, his loyal wife Zoe has now come out in support of her man by taking a swipe at Shirley herself.

Viewers know Brendan and Shirley haven’t really seen eye-to-eye this series, disagreeing on the content of Brendan’s choreography and Shirley’s critique of his partner Charlotte Hawkins’ dancing.

So when Brendan and Good Morning Britain’s Charlotte finished joint bottom of the leader board on Saturday, a disappointed Zoe took to Twitter to say she had no doubt who Shirley would send home if they ended up in the dance off.

Read more: Strictly bosses reportedly terrified top dancer will quit

She tweeted: “Well if B & C are in the dance-off tonight I think we know who the head judge will be voting for. Whoever they’re up against!”

Ouch!

Zoe’s tweet received plenty of support from fans, with one replying: “I am with you on this Zoe, I don’t understand why she treats C and B different to all the others, It is just so unfair.”

Another said: “I find it very uncomfortable how she speaks about B&C, so awkward. Feel sorry for them both.”

Others, however, seemed to suggest Brendan had dug his own grave with the comments he’s made to Shirley in recent weeks.

One said: “Which is precisely why he should have kept his mouth shut. But he clearly either doesn’t get it… or doesn’t care.”

Another said: “Personally I love Shirley Ballas. I think she’s fair, informed and always gives constructive feedback; technique to work on.”

Brendan first clashed with Shirley after she accused him of making the routines too difficult, prompting a furious response.

The dancer raged: “I think she should keep those opinions to herself. I put in two difficult steps that we could do in training but when something goes wrong at the start [it’s hard to recover].

“If Shirley wants to swap places with me, I’m quite happy to judge – I know how to do that.”

Then he butted heads with Shirley again over the amount of “rise and fall” in his tango with Charlotte.

Sadly for Brendan and Charlotte, they did end up in the dance-off and did end up going home; though it was all four judges who voted to save the other couple, Davood Ghadami and Nadiya Bychkova, not just Shirley.

Reacting to their departure, Brendan gave an emotional farewell speech which led many fans to panic he’s quitting the show for good.

“I’ve had one of the best Strictly’s in 15 years and it’s hard for me to even say that,” he said.

An insider told The Sun: “He loves being a part of the show, but his lack of promotion and clashes with judges this year have led top bosses to wonder how long he’ll stick around for.”

Read more: Piers Morgan is furious with Strictly judge for Charlotte Hawkins’ exit

The source added: “They don’t want him to leave. Deep down, Brendan doesn’t want to either – but options are being weighed up.”

Over to you Brendan… is it true or not?


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor