Strictly's Shirley Ballas 'couldn't speak' after three-word comment from Craig Revel Horwood

Shirley Ballas joined the BBC Strictly Come Dancing squad successful 2017 but admitted her archetypal audition for the amusement was acold from consecutive forward

Shirley Ballas has revealed her archetypal audition didn't spell precisely arsenic planned aft a three-word remark from justice Craig Revel Horwood.

The Merseyside-born dancer joined the deed amusement successful 2017 erstwhile she was 57 years old, replacing the present precocious Len Goodman, and the relation breathed caller beingness into her vocation and brought with it plentifulness of caller fans and followers. However, the mum-of-one admitted that her archetypal Strictly audition deed an aboriginal snag erstwhile she was asked to critique Ann Widdecombe's 2010 show astatine Blackpool's Tower Ballroom.

Ann was partnered with nonrecreational Anton Du Beke with some dressed successful agleam canary yellowish outfits, with Anton spinning Ann astir the level with arms flailing. The judges compared the erstwhile Tory MP to haemorrhoids and the brace received the lowest people retired of each the contestants ar 13 retired of 40.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Shirley admitted that she was mislaid for words erstwhile asked to supply feedback connected Ann's performance, particularly aft a remark from Craig.

She said: "I'd conscionable flown successful from the States and I had each my make-up and hairsbreadth on, and this agelong evening dress, and I arrived astatine this freezing acold workplace with cameras everywhere. I sat adjacent to Craig Revel Horwood who I'd ne'er met, and helium said, "We're going to propulsion idiosyncratic up connected the screen, Shirley, and you volition person 15 to 20 seconds to critique them. And past we'll determination on."

"Well, they threw up Ann Widdecombe. I'm a world-class manager and I'd ne'er rather seen anyone successful a yellowish fluffy formal cleaning the level before. Craig turned to maine and helium went, "This week, darling," but I couldn't speak. I had nary words. There were tons of cameras, immoderate with greenish lights and I was looking astatine 1 with a reddish airy and it conscionable felt a mess."

At the extremity of the "disaster" audition, Shirley said she had an expletive one-word effect erstwhile asked by the enforcement shaper however she thought she had performed.

"That night, the enforcement producer, Louise Rainbow, asked, "How bash you deliberation you did?" and I replied, "S---," and she said, "Why don't you travel backmost time successful a brace of jeans and a blouse and determination volition beryllium lone 1 camera person."

Thankfully, aft a agelong chat with her son, the 'Queen of Latin' returned the pursuing time and "nailed" the 2nd audition. She said: "I'd got implicit the daze from the erstwhile day, and alternatively than failing to critique Ann, I got to speech astir Ed Balls, and I ended up getting the job. I ended up climbing Kilimanjaro with Ed [for Comic Relief successful 2019], and I emotion him, he's a bully person of excavation now. Without Ed, I mightiness ne'er person got the occupation connected Strictly."