BBC Strictly's Shirley Ballas breaks silence on exit rumours after sparking backlash

Shirley Ballas hit back at trolls (Image: BBC)

Shirley Ballas hit back at trolls as she addressed the extensive backlash she received for saving Wynne Evans.

During Sunday night's results show, the opera singer found himself in the bottom two for the first time with Coronation Street star Shayne Ward.

The judges gave their verdict after the dance-off, with Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse both saving Shayne and his partner Nancy Xu.

Meanwhile Anton Du Beke opted to save Wynne and Katya Jones, meaning the final decision came down to head judge Shirley, 64, who sent the 52-year-old through to Blackpool.

After the episode, BBC fans expressed their discontent with Shirley's choice, with some accusing her of consistent favouritism throughout the current series.

Shirley came under fire for saving Wynne Evans and Katya Jones (Image: PA)

Initially indicating a possible resignation due to the backlash, Shirley has since stood her ground against the "vitriol and awful messages" thrown at her, addressing her critics on Instagram Tuesday (November 12).

Speaking from Gibraltar, where she is on a promotion tour for her latest book, Shirley shared: "Hi everyone, I'm currently in Gibraltar for a couple of days, promoting my new book. I'm going to see the Rock of Gibraltar and all the monkeys, I'm excited about that."

Grateful for the overwhelming support received, she said during a personal update: "But I'm mainly on today because I wanted to thank you all for reaching out with your beautiful messages.

"For you know, for the handful of vitriol and awful messages I got, I got thousands of supporting messages and that really made my day. So I appreciate that. Anyway, I'm looking forward to Blackpool next week."

Shirley's response left fans wondering if she was quitting the show (Image: BBC)

Continuing with plans for her upcoming appearance, she mentioned: "I shall be doing a book event at the Winter Gardens on Friday and then we'll have the competition on Saturday in the Tower Ballroom. So I'm looking forward to meeting a lot of you outside that stand and want to say hello."

She affectionately concluded her message saying: "But again, you know, hugs from me to you because you sure made me feel better this week. To each and every one of you that understand the show, I love you. Take care."

It comes after a critic called for Shirley to be sacked, writing online: "Can we start a petition to get Shirley off this show, she doesn't even bother trying to conceal her favouritism anymore and she's head judge? ? It's just not fair on the other contestants #strictly."

Shirley sarcastically commenting responded: "Where do I sign lol. Night night". This led to a wave of concern from Strictly fans worried that she might contemplate an exit from the programme.