Shirley Ballas has revealed she was “absolutely mortified” that her fellow Strictly Come Dancing judges voted to send Kaye Adams home on Sunday evening.
The 62-year-old ballroom dancer has been the head judge on the hit BBC One celebrity dancing competition since 2017.
Speaking to The One Show about the first dance-off in Strictly’s 20th series, which saw Loose Women star Adams, 59, and Bros singer Matt Goss battle it out to avoid elimination, Ballas said: “I just felt on the evening both couples made mistakes but the quality of Kaye was by far superior on that evening, and I was absolutely mortified that she left to be quite honest.”
It's a 10 from us @benshephard & @ShirleyBallas 😂#TheOneShow 👉 https://t.co/z7YWw4Tp3d pic.twitter.com/WYyqv7M5HH
— BBC The One Show (@BBCTheOneShow) October 5, 2022
Ballas went on: “I love my fellow judges, and we’re all there to do a job, but that was one they didn’t quite get right.”
When asked if she and fellow judges come to blows over disagreements on the panel, Ballas said: “No, not at all.
“You know sometimes I’m just delighted when they can agree and it’s not my job to send somebody home.
“But [Adams] was, and had, the most beautiful movement. She was fluid and I like fluidity. So there you go.”
Adams was the first celebrity to be voted off the show after she failed to impress the judging panel and viewers with her performance of the Charleston to Music! Music! Music! with professional partner Kai Widdrington.
She found herself up against 54-year-old Goss who took to the dancefloor with his partner Nadiya Bychkova to perform their samba to Night Fever by the Bee Gees, which impressed the judges enough to earn him at least another week in the competition.
Meanwhile, after performing alongside professional partner Dianne Buswell in Saturday night’s live show, radio DJ Tyler West ran the London Marathon on Sunday.
Speaking about balancing the two physically demanding activities, West told Strictly spin-off show It Takes Two that rehearsing for Strictly is tougher than marathon training.
He told the show’s host and former Strictly professional Janette Manrara: “You know what, it’s been a struggle, I can’t lie.
“The recovery process is key in this situation, but you know what, if I can run a marathon anything is possible now.”
West also revealed that Buswell, who has been a professional on the show since 2017, did a great job of cheering him on during Sunday’s running event but ironically she almost missed him run past at one point.
“There was actually one moment where she almost missed me as I was running past,” he said.
He jokingly added: “She was so focused on me!”
After crossing the finish line, West shared a heartfelt post on Instagram thanking people for their support, which was met with many well-wishes from a number of Strictly stars.
Fellow celebrity dancer Fleur East wrote: “Unbelievable! Well done bro!!!”
Strictly professional dancer Jowita Przystal said “go on Tyler !!!” and Johannes Radebe added “Well done papa. X”.