Shirley Ballas stands by her decision to boot Catherine Tyldesley out of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’.
The head judge made the deciding vote, which saw the ‘Coronation Street’ actress and her professional partner Johannes Radebe, kicked out of the competition in favour of Mike Bushell and Katya Jones – but she insists she would have done the same again.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper, she said: "Every time someone goes out someone gets upset. I have one question – why was Catherine in the bottom two? I stand by my decision. Why was she there in bottom two? You can’t complain if it ends up like that. It’s about what they do there and then. And I know I absolutely made the right decision. Every week we could have the same conversation."
When Catherine left the show, she admitted her highlight had been getting to dance with her "best friend", Johannes.
Asked what her favourite bit had been, she said: "[Johannes]. He is like, my best friend. And just … the opportunity to work with amazing people, and I never thought I’d say this, but I’m going to keep it up. I fell in love with it, and I’ve loved every second. This man has changed my life."
Whilst an emotional Johannes added: "The beautiful thing is … I need to thank ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ for the opportunity. Thank you. I want to say thank you to this woman, she has been a light for me. Thank you for accepting me for who I am, and for showing me joy every day."
Meanwhile, fellow judge Craig Revel Horwood previously insisted the viewers should be blamed for Catherine’s surprise elimination.
He said: "At the moment I think on ‘Strictly’ its becoming obvious that there are people that are really becoming fantastic and they’re leaving some of the rest behind, so it’s quite split in that way you know.
"But we always do get the dilemma of two really good ones being in the bottom two. And you have to remember that it’s the audience at home that are putting them in the bottom two as well. It’s not just the judges, we have 50 per cent of the vote so I blame the people that aren’t voting.
"They’ll all whinge online and be abusive and then you ask them, ‘Did you vote?’ ‘Oh no, I didn’t vote,’ so if you’re that worried about it, vote."
Shirley Ballas defends Strictly Come Dancing decision
