Shirley Ballas reveals rift with Strictly pro after 'pompous' retort led to 'disaster'

Iconic Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas had some choice words for one former pro dancer who she thinks had designs on the a spot on the judging panel.

Shirley was named head judge, replacing the outgoing Len Goodman, in 2017 after an intense selection process.

In her memoir entitled Best Foot Forward, Shirley told how Kiwi dancer Brendan Cole had "expressed some scepticism" about her abilities before she replaced Len.

Shirley wrote: "When [It Takes Two] host Zoe Ball asked him if all the pros were going to be 'desperate to impress' me, he pompously fired back that it was me who should be looking to impress them because they'd all been there much longer.

"That set the tone, and he paved the way to disaster from there."

Shirley believes Brendan had also screen-tested for Len's job and she speculates that his unkind words had come from bitterness that he hadn't been chosen.

Shirley says that fellow pro Anton Du Beke had taken Brendan aside and advised him to "go with the flow and accept the BBC's decision." But Brendan's prickly response to her verdict on his tango with GMB's Charlotte Hawkins during the 2017 Strictly season suggested he hadn't taken Anton's advice to heart.

She added: "I felt that he was trying anything and every-thing to put me down, and it had all been bubbling away for quite a while before it finally blew up in week three."

Rather than bearing Shirley's constructive criticism with good grace, Brendan fired back at her suggestion that there was unnecessary "rise and fall" in the tango and when she suggested that he review a video of the tango, bitterly fired back: "I will my dear, I will."

In the end, fellow-judge Bruno Tonioli was forced to step down in, telling Brendan: "I think she's right Brendan, you should be more respectful to a lady!"

Brendan resentfully let the matter drop, but he and Charlotte were eliminated the following week.

He went on to appear in that year's Strictly Christmas Special, winning alongside newsreader Katie Derham, but that spelled the end of his Strictly Come Dancing journey as his contract was not renewed the following year.

However, with big changes afoot within the Strictly camp, it's possible that Brendan could make his return. Days after presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman revealed the current series would be their last, bookies have announced that Shirley will be next to announce her retirement.

The 65-year-old head judge has borne the brunt of criticism from unhinged fans whenever their favourite celeb has been eliminated, telling Olivia Attwood: "I've had people draw coffins with me in it with somebody with a spade that said, 'Die, you b****'.

"I never relax. It has changed my life completely, I would say."

However, she maintains that she won't be prevented from doing the job she loves by a few online trolls. Calling Strictly "the light of my life", Shirley insists that she will remain on the jusdging panel "as long as the BBC would like to have me."

Strictly Come Dancing returns tonight (Saturday, November 1) at 6.35pm on BBC One. You can also catch Shirley on Michael McIntyre's Celebrity Wheel which follows on BBC One at 8.20pm.