Strictly Come Dancing's head judge, Shirley Ballas, has revealed that she's hired a personal assistant to help her deal with nasty messages.
The 63 year old dance pro, who is currently judging the 21st series of the BBC One show, has previously spoken about being targeted by online trolls.
During an interview on Channel 5 News, Shirley was asked if she's gotten better at handling the "horrible stuff" on social media.
Speaking to Dan Walker, who placed fifth on Strictly in 2021, she said: "I think with the social media, yes." She added: "This year I've taken on Harry as a PA, and also syphons through all those really unbelievable messages that you couldn't even repeat to a human being."
Shirley also spoke about how hard it can be to avoid mean messages, saying: "Unfortunately they come up, you know, if you're scrolling or you're looking or, you know, when I did my Sky challenges for (charity) Calm, they come up and I'm trying to help people as well, so I don't want to just ignore all the good people, 'cause there's more good people than bad people."
To raise funds for suicide prevention charity Calm, Shirley took part in a Skyatholon challenge in August which included a zipline, wing walk and 13,000ft skydive.
The former ballroom dancer also chatted about her new book 'Murder On The Dancefloor', co-written with Sheila McClure. The story follows dance superstar Lily Richmond and private investigator Susie Cooper as they try to uncover a killer's identity.
Discussing the novel, Shirley said: "I've lived it. I've been part of it… not the murder part but everything else that went with it, you know the backstabbing." She added: "And it's such a competitive industry and people will do whatever they need to do to get wherever they need to go."
It comes as paralympic champion Jody Cundy said he had an “absolute blast” on Strictly Come Dancing as he became the third celebrity to be eliminated from the competition.
The athlete, who celebrated his 45th birthday during Saturday’s live show, ended up in the dance-off against 40-year-old comedian Eddie Kadi after he failed to impress the judges with his salsa.
His performance on Saturday to Bellini’s Samba de Janeiro with his partner Jowita Przystal was filled with dramatic lifts and flips but ended up receiving 19 points, the lowest score of the night.
During Sunday’s show, Jody and Jowita reprised their dance while Eddie and his partner Karen Hauer performed their American Smooth to Sex Bomb by Tom Jones again in a bid to impress the judges and remain in the competition.
After both couples had danced for a second time, it was a unanimous decision by the judges to save Eddie, sending Jody home.
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