Shirley Ballas has shared her thoughts on the Strictly Come Dancing finalists ahead of Saturday’s live show.
Ahead of the battle for the Glitterball Trophy in Strictly Come Dancing tomorrow night, head judge Shirley Ballas appeared on This Morning to discuss what can be expected from the final.
“It’s one of the strongest finals we’ve ever had… everybody is fighting to get that mirror ball,” she told hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary.
On the competition this year, Shirley explained: “Normally when I have to send somebody home, I’m very clear and it’s very obvious when I have to send somebody home. But I have to say, this last week sending somebody home was very very difficult.
“I thought the judges were going to agree on somebody and they didn’t, and it was left to me. It was very very difficult because [the contestants] have all tried so hard.””
Discussing Will Mellor’s exit in last week’s semi-final, Shirley added: “he was a superstar in his own right.”
She went on to explain the judging process: “It is really small details and you know, you look at both couples and it becomes a preference at the end of the day. I’m weighing up these mistakes against these mistakes, these synchronicities against this… I have a whole list of things that perhaps the general public don’t see to come to my conclusion, which is never easy to do.”
Dermot then shared: “When we were doing X Factor, the judges always said that to get to the final, it wasn’t about who has the best voice because more often than not, the person with the best voice didn’t win the competition.
“It was quote on quote, who had the ‘X Factor’ right. You had to have a good voice to win the show but you had to have the pizazz about it.” Dermot then asked Shirley if it was the same with Strictly.
Shirley responded: “Going into the final, it’ll be down to the general public but I have full faith that they will pick the right winner. Everybody who’s made the final is a winner in their own right, I wouldn’t like to call it. The audience at home will have a voice and speak.”
Asked who has improved the most, Shirley said: “I’m going to go neutral because in their own right, they’ve all improved in certain areas right from the very beginning.
“I mean Helen, she was quiet, she was shy. Look where she is today. Molly’s been in the bottom so many times, as has Fluer and then we’ve got Hamza, who had to improve his footwork and his lifts. So again, the general public will call it.”
This year will also see three of the new professionals in the final, with Shirley commenting: “Unheard of, amazing! They’ve put their heart and soul into their students and here we are in the final, so good luck to all of them and the celebrities as well.”
To see the full interview visit itv.com/watch/this-morning
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1 & ITVX
