Strictly viewers fume over Shirley Ballas blunder: ‘It’s so rude’

The pressure was on during Saturday’s Strictly Come Dancing S (December 7) as the BBC show reached its semi-final stage.

The five remaining celebrities: Tasha Ghouri, JB Gill, Chris McCausland, Sarah Hadland and Pete Wicks, had to perform not one but two dances last week, to compete for a place in this week’s grand final.

Despite the tough competition, fans couldn’t overlook an obvious past mistake that judge Shirley repeated.

Shirley Ballas on Strictly judging the dance performance
Strictly fans fume as Shirley Ballas repeats awkward mistake from years ago (Credit: BBC)

Strictly fans spot Shirley Ballas’ blunder

As the ever-popular Chris and Dianne impressed the audience yet again, this time with an energetic Charleston, many were left distracted by a comment from head judge Shirley Ballas.

While commenting on the dancing couple’s performance, Shirley said: “You had springs in your shoes when Dianna went six inches off the floor.”

The judge made the same mistake in 2022 when she pronounced Dianne’s name incorrectly for two weeks in a row. Fans were quick to call her out for repeating it.

“Did Shirley seriously just call Dianne Diana…again.” Tweeted one viewer. “She’s been a pro for 8 years.”

Another person agreed: “I just said the same thing. She always calls her Diana.”

A third also spotted the same mistake, tweeting: “Shirley calling Diane ‘Diana’ week after week, year after year. How has no one pointed it out to her!? It’s so rude.”

“Shirley and Dianne have both been a part of #Strictly for seven whole years now, you’d have thought that Shirley would have learnt that her name isn’t Diana by now?” Somebody else commented: “It’s just a bit bloody rude tbh. She does it every week, I wish someone would pull her up on it.”