We’re only a few weeks into this year’s Strictly Come Dancing and already news reaches us from some eagle-eyed fans who reckon they’ve already spotted trouble brewing between two of the show’s biggest stars.
On Saturday night (October 1), some viewers took to social media to point out a possible problem between pro dancer Karen Hauer and head judge Shirley Ballas.
After Karen and her celebrity partner Eddie Kadi performed their cha cha cha, they made their way over to Tess Daly for judges’ comments.
And it wasn’t long before the judges were being a little harsh in their critique. Shirley, in particular, didn’t seem thrilled with Karen’s choreography.
Strictly news: Two show stars lock horns?
Head judge Shirley said: “I want to be fair to everybody and week two and three are a little bit technical. You danced everything on your toes. It’s not a toe in cha cha cha, it’s more flat, you have to lower your heels.
“I didn’t see a straight leg, the weight was back, I didn’t mind this Cuban thing going, but not for the whole routine. The posture needs to be in a straight line, and we need a little bit of what is a straight leg and what is a bent leg.”
Craig Revel Horwood said he felt the dance was more of a “street dance” and said there was “no cha cha technique whatsoever”.
Viewers react
While Karen – who is Strictly’s longest serving pro dancer – kept a neutral expression, some fans seemed to sense that she wasn’t impressed.
One claimed: “I’ve always got the impression that Shirley and Karen don’t get along. Possibly because Shirley was a mentor to Kevin Clifton and Karen and Kevin obviously divorced. But Eddie should not have been caught in the crossfire. He has no control over the choreography. So critiquing him on that and not giving him any actual feedback on his performance is ridiculous.”
Another simply said of Shirley on X: “She’s always nasty to Karen Hauer.”
A third speculated: “Bet there was some backstage drama after that.”
And it wasn’t the first time Shirley found herself in the firing line for harsh judgement last week, either.
ED! has contacted reps for Shirley and Karen for comment.
Karen thanks fans for support
After some challenging feedback, Karen and comedian Eddie scored 21 out of a possible 40, leaving them in the lower half of the leaderboard.
But Karen remained positive. Shortly after Saturday night’s show, she shared a snap of herself and Eddie on Instagram.
The caption read: “Thank you for all your beautiful messages of encouragement and support. It does not go unnoticed.”
View this post on Instagram
The viewers clearly didn’t have a problem with the pair. And, as a result of their votes, Karen and Eddie will be back for Movie Week on next Saturday’s live show.
Read more: The ‘whopping net worths’ of Strictly 2023 pros
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