‘I’m there to judge’ Shirley Ballas speaks out on Strictly’s Adam Peaty ‘near kiss’ row

Strictly: Adam Peaty admitting he's "relieved" to go

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info

Shirley Ballas, who has been a judge on Strictly Come Dancing since 2017, gave her thoughts on the Adam Peaty “near kiss” rumours. The former Latin dance champion insisted that she “doesn’t listen to gossip” but did praise the pair for their convincing routine. 

Shirley, 61, was quite clear on her desire to keep clear of the rumour mill when asked about the dancing couple’s alleged “near kiss” at the end of their tango. 

“I don’t listen to gossip, I’m there to judge,” she insisted.

“But when Adam did his Argentine tango, it was on fire. 

“Taking the woman passionately in your arms, manoeuvring face to face, wrapping that leg around, cuddling and moving? 

READ MORE: ‘I’ve been left in the gutter’ Jack Dee speaks out about show axe

“That’s what the dance is about and he was spot on.

“What the public or anybody else want to make of it is their issue,” she concluded in a recent interview with The Times. 

Katya, 32, and Adam, 26, recently caused controversy after the pair finished their Argentine tango just inches away from each other’s faces in what some fans branded a “near kiss”. 

However, speaking to Zoe Ball on her Radio 2 Breakfast Show, Katya made it clear that they were just acting.

“The choreographers who help us, because the judges kept saying we’re not connecting the emotion to the dance, there’s got to be more connection,” she explained.

“So they were very specific about keeping the intensity throughout the entire dance and at the end just keeping that intensity. So we made them proud!”

Adam also quickly shut down all romance rumours on Twitter, writing: “My favourite dance so far. Thank you to everyone who has sent supporting messages! I loved it.

“To everyone who wants to see what they want, your comments have real life consequences. 

Call The Midwife’s Judy Parfitt slams neighbour for ‘old lady’ remark [NEWS]

‘Hanging on for dear life’ Kevin Clifton speaks on health issue [UPDATE]

Matt Baker leaves farm to wife Nicola as he takes on ’emotional’ job [NEWS]

“I will not be overcome or lowered by your gossip. Protect your energy.”

Adam’s girlfriend, artist Eirianedd Munro, managed to make light of the incident on social media. 

She posted a video of herself pretending to cry and captioned it: “Watching your boyfriend almost kiss another woman on live tv. 

“Finding out 10 million people also watched it live,” she continued in jest. 

Despite winning over audiences earlier in the competition, Adam and Katya received the lowest score from the judges on Saturday night, and ended up being sent home

The Olympic swimmer and his professional partner got just 27 points overall for their jive, which helped land them in the bottom two. 

The other couple who the public placed in the dance off was newbie Strictly professional Nikita Kuzmin and Tilly Ramsay, the daughter of famous TV chef Gordon Ramsay. 

Tilly and Nikita finished third from the bottom of the leaderboard with 31 points for their Tango to Kings & Queens by Ava Max, which put them at serious risk of landing in the bottom two. 

In the end, three out of four of the judges chose to save Tilly and Nikita, with judge Shirley proving to be the only dissenting voice who would have chosen to save Adam.

Strictly returns for Musicals Week on Saturday at 6:40pm on BBC One.

Source: Read Full Article