Shirley Ballas joined Strictly Come Dancing as head judge back in 2017 amid a long-running spell working as a dance coach and judge.
She originally made a name for herself competing in the International Latin division, where she won several championship titles, and earned the nickname The Queen of Latin.
But despite all her success, Shirley has been on the receiving end of bullying her whole career, and says things have barely changed since she started dancing back in 1967.
“I don’t know how people get away with it until it becomes ‘name and shame’,” she recently remarked.
“I am pretty much close to doing that I’ll tell you.”
When probed on whether she thinks there is misogyny in the world of dance, she said: “Yes for sure, 100 percent for sure and I don’t think it is much better today. I still think that bullying goes on.
“There are a lot of great people in my industry, there are a lot of people who want to see people do extremely well and I think we have this handful of misogynistic people with egos that just will not deflate.”
Shirley added on a recent instalment of Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs: “I was going through immense bullying in the industry from men at the top. I will just go as far as that.
“They were stopping my work. I was like an elite teacher. I was teaching the top couples in the world and then there were threats going to certain couples saying, ‘There are nine of us and one of her.’
"If you train with her we are going to make sure you don’t make it in the industry.’”
However, she said this only made her more determined to succeed in the tough world of dance over the years.
She added: “You know who you are and everybody in my industry knows who they are.
"Thank you to the bullies because you gave me a platform and a job which I sincerely love and adore.”
Earlier this year, Shirley revealed she’d hired a personal assistant to help her deal with nasty messages.
During an interview on Channel 5 News, Shirley was asked if she's gotten better at handling the "horrible stuff" on social media.
Speaking to Dan Walker, who placed fifth on Strictly in 2021, she said: "I think with the social media, yes."
She added: "This year I've taken on Harry as a PA, and also syphons through all those really unbelievable messages that you couldn't even repeat to a human being."
Shirley has kept a positive attitude even when the trolling has got tough, and recently told OK! she never wants to leave her role on the beloved BBC programme.
“I’d never want to leave Strictly,” Shirley said. “I’ll be on TV and on the tour for as long as they’ll have me.
“I love Strictly . It’s like a day at Disneyland for me. When it’s ‘lights, camera, action’ I forget everything that’s gone on in the week. But it’s just on a weekend. I can always fly to the States on a Monday and come back on a Friday.”
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