Dan Walker has issued a plea on Twitter as he jumped to the defense of Shirley Ballas.
The head judge of Strictly Come Dancing has been facing a tirade of online abuse over her critiques on the beloved show.
Monday night’s results show saw Will Mellor lose out on a place in the Strictly final after a dance-off with Fleur East.
Following the result, Dan headed online to see the reaction and saw a wave of hate being sent to Shirley.
As a result, he decided to call some of the trolls out.
Dan Walker on Twitter
Shirley had chosen to save Fleur over Will as she had the final say.
The Channel 5 star tweeted: “Can people please lay off @ShirleyBallas? It’s ok to disagree but some of the bile & hatred on here is horrible.
Read more: Entertainment Daily Awards 2022: Vote for your Most Inspirational Celebrity now!
“She’s been dancing her whole life, has won a gallon of titles, and loves and cares for what she does.”
“Just be nice!” he added.
Can people please lay off @ShirleyBallas?
It’s ok to disagree but some of the bile & hatred on here is horrible. She’s been dancing her whole life, has won a gallon of titles and loves and cares for what she does.
Just be nice!
PS
I’m speaking as someone who she booted out 😂— Dan Walker (@mrdanwalker) December 12, 2022
Following his remarks, Shirley responded to Dan on Tuesday morning after the backlash began to die down.
“Thank you for all the positive messages I received,” she tweeted. “It’s overwhelming. I read them all hard to reply to them all.
“Handful of haters, as usual, sad people, I feel for them.”
Sharing her love for Dan, she added: “Love you to the moon and back. Have a great week.”
The Strictly judges regularly find themselves being criticised by fans. However, Shirley appears to be a favourite among trolls.
In response to the criticism she receives, Shirley told Loose Women last month (November) that she finds the hate “unfathomable”.
“I love that they have an opinion but then it goes overboard and it’s not nice,” she said.
She continued: “I do read everything – I know people say don’t read it but I think it’s quite important. I like to think I’ve helped so many people who have had mental health issues over the years.
“Some of the language is so explicit I couldn’t even retweet it, it’s unfathomable.”
Meanwhile, Shirley faced trolls after she made the final decision on Monday’s results show.
Voting out Will, she said: “First of all, the British public has spoken and with respect, I take that on board.
“My fellow judges have decided that they don’t agree, so I have made lots of notes here, both couples
were outstanding and not only today but through the series.
“I have loved both of them, this is by far, even for me Craig, the most difficult decision I feel I have had to make. Based on micro details, I have decided to save Fleur and Vito.”
Read more: Will Mellor makes heartwarming confession about Strictly ‘dream’ as he admits ‘worry’ over his mum
The Strictly Come Dancing final airs on Saturday November 17 at 7:05pm on BBC One.
What do you think of the trolling? You can leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know.