Shirley Ballas is taking Christmas off for the "first time ever."

Shirley Ballas is taking Christmas off for the first time ever

Shirley Ballas is taking Christmas off for the first time ever

The 62-year-old star has served as Head Judge on 'Strictly Come Dancing - which this year saw CBeebies presenter Hamza Yassin lift the Glitterball Trophy along with Jowita Przysta - since 2017 and is a regular face in pantomime but is taking a break over the festive season because of the online bullying she endured throughout the latest series.

"It's the first time I've taken any time off - ever! I'm taking two and a half weeks off, because of the immense amount of trolling I got throughout 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."

However, the former Latin championship winner - who appeared alongside Craig Revel Horwood, Anton Du Beke and Motsi Mabuse on the judging panel of the BBC Saturday night favourite - went on to insist that she has had a "blast" appearing on the 20th series of 'Strictly Come Dancing' and even believes the latest edition has "topped" the 2021 competition, which was won by 'EastEnders' actress Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice.

She told the Sunday Express' Sunday Magazine: "I've totally had a blast on this series. I love it, I love the judges. I don't think anybody thought we could top last year and suddenly we did. It looked like it could be anybody's series because each of the celebrities has brought a different, great performance on certain weeks."

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