Strictly's Shirley Ballas takes drastic step after receiving vile death threats
Shirley Ballas has taken drastic steps to solve her social media hell by hiring social a troll-hunting whiz-kid to keep the vile abusers at bay.
The Strictly Come Dancing head judge has employed influencer Harry Surplus, 21, to weed out all the trolls sending her obscene and threatening messages. The terrified star recently said she has been sent photos of herself lying in a coffin and wishing her dead – leaving her scared to leave her home.
Things got so bad during the last series that increasingly violent and sexual messages left her mulling over her future on the iconic BBC programme. Now she has detailed what she has done to combat the cruel trolls after she ended up seeing a doctor; employing someone to trawl her accounts should means they now don't get through to the popular 63-year-old.
Strictly head judge Shirley Ballas has taken steps to protect herself (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
She's decided to hire some help with someone now helping weed out the trolls (Aaron Parfitt / SplashNews.com)"I've taken steps," she told the Mirror after detailing how she dealt with the issues from the 2022 series. "I've been to the Juicy Oasis with Jason Vale for over a week and I have also taken yoga classes with a master called Kenny. He showed me all the things I should do to get my mind in a good place.
"I have also hired Harry, who is 21 and a university maths guru and he's come on board to sift through all my social media. He's been taking over my platform pretty much along with my son. If that's what it takes, then so be it."
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When asked if it's her ambition to not use social media during Strictly this time around, she responded: "My only ambition is to help people along their way to improve their dancing so the general public can have the ride of their life."
Shirley spoke of her fears and experience on new ITVX documentary Olivia Attwood vs The Trolls. The former Love Island star herself is often subjected to online hate and the dance adjudicator knows the impact it can take after being left considering quitting social media.
"It’s when it is personal about myself and my family and it affects my mental health. I am not just talking about your phone," she said. "I am talking about being in public. You worry about those same strange people that write these kinds of messages. Are they lurking in dark corners?
"Are they hiding behind walls when you go somewhere. Sometimes at night, I lie there and wonder, 'Are they suffering? Are they lonely? Is it funny to them?' This whole experience has made me much more vigilant. I cannot say that I leave my front door unless I am on point. I never relax. It has changed my life completely I would say."
Speaking towards the end of last year’s Strictly she said: "I’m taking two-and-a-half weeks off because of the immense amount of trolling I got this series. I decided I wouldn’t do panto this year. Last time I did it, I got a letter hand-delivered to the theatre that was very off-putting.
"I actually kept it. I don’t know why. So I’m going to take some time off and just get myself together. I’ve enjoyed the series but I’m not going to stand here and lie to you — it took its emotional toll. The names I’ve been called! I couldn’t even repeat them to you."
But she did tell Olivia it is important to remember the good side of social media, saying: "For every ten awful messages I get, I will get 1,000 brilliant messages. I got this job at 57. I wasn’t in this industry all my life. I love this experience, the fact I can help all the charities. I love those channels that this job gives me but it also gives you this other side."
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