‘Strictly Come Dancing’ professional Brendan Cole has kicked off with judge Shirley Ballas, following her comments in last weekend’s live show.
Brendan and his celebrity partner, Charlotte Hawkins, had a shaky performance in Saturday’s (30 September) show, finishing at the bottom of the leaderboard for their Cha Cha, but ultimately managing to avoid being in the bottom two.
During the judges’ comments, new addition Shirley Ballas commented that Brendan had made his choreography too complicated for Charlotte to keep up with, which has clearly irked him.
Responding to Shirley’s critiques on ‘Strictly’ spin-off show ‘It Takes Two’, Brendan commented: “I think she should keep those opinions to herself. I put in two difficult steps… If Shirley wants to swap places with me, I’m quite happy to judge and her to do that.
“It disappoints me because as the pros, you almost can’t do the right thing. If you give too much, it’s too much. If give too little, it’s not enough.
“She did say in the opening show that she wanted to be excited… ‘show me everything I’ve never seen before’... it’s frustrating but I don’t worry about them.”
Brendan previously jumped to Charlotte’s defence when she became the butt of certain ‘Strictly’ fans’ jokes thanks to her performance, remarking that he found it “disgusting” that viewers would “laugh at another’s misfortune” and “belittle someone” when they’re down.
Prior to Shirley Ballas’s appointment as Head Judge, it was widely reported that both Brendan and fellow professional Anton Du Beke had been in talks for the job, with the former admitting he’d be keen to join the panel.
This week, Brendan and Charlotte will be tackling the Tango, with a ‘Top Gun’-inspired performance for Movies Week.