Strictly Come Dancing's Shirley Ballas claps back at claims she's 'drinking' before show after score outrage

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Shirley Ballas has clapped back at claims she was 'drinking' before the latest live episode of Strictly Come Dancing after her scores were questioned.

The BBC One dance contest's head judge faced some backlash over her scoring following movie week in the ballroom. Saturday night's show opened by showing Strictly's group of professional dancers perform a stunning routine to a special Disney medley featuring songs from across the entertainment firm's biggest films which included songs from Pocahontas, Frozen and red-haired Dianne Buswell leading the dance to The Little Mermaid.

Hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman than began the third week of the competition by being escorted into the ballroom by Mickey and Minnie Mouse while fellow iconic and much-loved characters Pluto, Goofy, Donald and Daisy Duck also walked out with the judges. READ MORE: BBC Strictly Come Dancing fans issue 'totally off' complaint as Eddie Kadi scores first 10 of the series READ MORE: Read more of today's top stories from the Manchester Evening News It was then time for the fourteen remaining couples to take it in turns to transport us into different films - from Grease and The Sound of Music to Men in Black and Romeo + Juliet - and it was quite the night with comedian Eddie Kadi and his professional partner Karen Hauer have scored the first 10 of the 2023 series with their couples choice performance.

Shirley, who awarded the first 10 of the series, said: "When you do something well, it needs rewarding. This was slick, it had style, it was edgy, it was entertaining, you found your groove.