Strictly's Shirley Ballas hit with furious backlash as she's accused of 'objectifying' Pete Wicks

The Strictly Come Dancing head judge has ruffled feathers amongst viewers with her marking on this year's series, but her reaction to Pete Wicks' dance on Saturday has tipped them over the edge

Strictly Come Dancing head judge Shirley Ballas has sparked outrage with viewers as she is accused of 'objectifying' Pete Wicks, with critics brutally branding her "pathetic".

The controversy comes after Saturday night's episode of the BBC competition saw TOWIE's Pete and his professional partner Jowita Przystał perform a raunchy Cha Cha. Pete wore a pair of skin-tight pink trousers with his shirt unbuttoned, while the 36-year-old performed a routine to I'm Too Sexy by Right Said Fred.

Along with Jowita and a team of backing dancers, the dance received rapturous applause from the Blackpool audience, following their crowd-pleasing performance. But it wasn't just the audience who lapped it up, with Tess Daly mentioning the head judge's reaction, joking: "Shirley I think was just loving every moment."

Ballas could be seen giggling behind the judging panel, while Pete asked her: "Shirley, how do you feel, darling? I feel great!" Not denying she was slightly flustered after watching his dance, she replied: "Oh well, you know...Erm, let me think," adding: "There was definite - do you know what? I'll have to calm myself down. You had some very good isolation and a very clean neckline."

Anton Du Beke went on to dramatically fan Ballas down while she composed herself, before she attempted a constructive answer: "You did a Cuban Break there, the crossover with your feet. Your hips swinging left and right..." The audience erupted into laughter, before Shirley ended: "I mean, it was very entertaining. I don't think I'm going to forget this evening for as long as I live darling."

Anton added: "All we could see was left cheek, right cheek, left cheek, right cheek," he said while he gestured towards Ballas: "She hasn't been the same since... The Cha Cha was lacking but the dance was amazing."

X users weren't impressed by Shirley's behaviour, taking to the social media platform to fume about the "gross" comments and "double standards" she'd shown. One ranted: "Didn't enjoy Pete tonight He looked uncomfortable And Shirley gushing over him… embarrassing #Strictly." Another slammed her comments: "I'm sorry I'm gonna be that person, if say Anton reacted to a female contestant the way Shirley reacts to Pete, the complaints would be off the chart and the mans career would be over,"

Someone else wrote:"#Strictly if a man had said about a woman contestant what Shirley said about Pete he’d have been in a lot of trouble. #DoubleStandards," with a fourth asking: "Why do we accept Shirley acting like a screeching teenager? #Strictly."

Another fumed: "Haven’t watched #Strictly for a long time, but I switched on just now and was really uncomfortable with the judges’ comments about Pete & Jowita. So much focus on his tight trousers instead of actually judging the dancing. Wouldn’t fly for a female contestant! Gross."

One fan went further, adding: "You couldn’t objectify a female contestant and refer to her physical attributes in that way. I really don’t like it!"

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