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Strictly's head judge Shirley Ballas has hit back at critics who accuse her of having ‘favourites’, as she says ‘people don’t like women to be successful’.
In a candid conversation, the 65-year-old described how high-achieving women often receive scorn and disapproval, especially in the world of showbusiness where ‘no one’s your friend’.
Her comments follow last week’s bombshell news that Strictly Come Dancing’s female presenting duo, Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, are to quit the BBC show at the end of this year.
The Liverpool-born star has endured a barrage of criticism in her eight-year tenure as head judge on Strictly.
But in a career that has spanned more than four decades, the dance expert says that she believes the odds are stacked against women in their rise to the top.
Speaking at the Wimbledon Book Festival in London, she says: ‘Everybody pretends to be your friend, but I’ve found that 99.9 per cent of people whom I deal with on a daily basis don’t like to see women be successful.
‘I am talking about even girlfriends and people that you’re close to, they come with their sarcastic remarks and their underhand messages.’
In recent years, Ballas has been criticised for her perceived bias towards male celebrities, and in 2023 the abuse went so far that she confessed to being scared to leave the house after receiving death threats.
Indeed, her ordeal prompted BBC producers to change the format for this year’s show, so that the casting vote for each week’s ‘dance off’ is shared between the four judges, preventing Ballas from being blamed for each celebrity exit.
Nicknamed the Queen of Latin for being one of the most decorated Latin dancers in the world, Ballas also described the challenges of being an older woman in the entertainment sector.
She says: ‘In my industry, to be still standing at my age, is not easy at all, for any woman, but I can only speak for myself in my industry, to still be standing at 65 is quite something.’
Call The Midwife star laments lack of roles giving since birth
Call The Midwife actress Jennifer Kirby, who gave birth to her first child earlier this year, has told how, at just 37, she has noticed the dearth of acting roles for ‘older’ women.
Kirby enjoyed a three-year run as Nurse Valerie Dyer on the BBC show from 2017 to 2020, and has also appeared in ITV’s Endeavour. But since giving birth to her first child in July via a caesarean, Kirby suggests motherhood has made her invisible in the acting world.
Speaking on social media, she said: ‘I’ve been split apart and put back together, I’ve created a whole life inside of me and overcome horrific storms.
‘I’ve got so much more to offer than before, but because of a few more wrinkles, far fewer opportunities.’
Vanessa grateful for colour-blind casting
US actress Vanessa Williams is winning over the West End as icy fashion queen Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada musical at the Dominion Theatre in London.
But the 62-year-old star says she’s grateful to the producer’s policy of colour-blind casting, considering her talent instead of her skin colour when choosing her for the coveted role made famous by Oscar-winner Meryl Streep in the 2006 film.
Speaking at the 2026 Powerlist Celebration of Black Excellence Awards – where she picked up the Entertainer of the Year award at London’s JW Marriott Grosvenor House – she tells me: ‘I think that when the call came to me, they knew what my skill set was, I don’t think they considered my colour and knew that I can do the job and that’s the most important thing.’
Reflecting on her accolade, she says: ‘I’ve been in the business for over 40 years, so I certainly feel like I’ve been around for a while, but I think to be acknowledged in London in a completely different community has been wonderful.’
Michael McIntyre's tip to silence noisy neighbours
Michael McIntyre’s enviable Hampstead home, which he bought for £10million five years ago, boasts eight bedrooms, a pool, a gym and even a cinema.
Yet the funnyman still has to deal with bothersome neighbours.
‘I have had a little thing with them [neighbours] already when they played very loud music in the garden and I did not want to complain,’ McIntyre tells a Soho Theatre audience during a warm-up gig for his forthcoming Hello America! tour in the US.
‘I played the same song they were playing at a slightly different time just to f*** them off. It is a good idea,’ divulges McIntyre, who also owns a country house in Wiltshire.
The comedian, 49, explains: ‘This is what British people do. They will try to deal with s*** without confrontation.’
It doesn’t take the world’s greatest sleuth to know that showbusiness marriages can be short-lived. But Poirot star Sir David Suchet is bucking the trend. Next year, he and his wife Sheila will celebrate their golden wedding anniversary –and he admits that for him it was love at first sight.
‘The first time I saw Sheila was just “wow”,’ the actor, 79, says at the Delaunay Presents dinner in London. ‘I fell in love immediately. Fifty years on, I’m still waiting to find out if she felt the same.’ The couple met while performing with the Coventry Theatre company in 1972.
Carrie 'terrified' of fat jabs
Weight-loss drugs are order of the day for those in the public eye wishing to keep their figures svelte, but musical theatre star Carrie Hope Fletcher will not follow suit.
The 33-year-old, who stars in Elf the Musical, which opens tonight in London’s West End, tells me she is scared of the side-effects.
‘The jabs are tempting but I am terrified that in ten years’ time they will discover some terrible effects,’ she says.
Carrie, who is the sister of McFly frontman Tom Fletcher, gave birth to her first child with husband and Elf co-star Joel Montague last year and says she’s proud of her motherhood body.
She adds: ‘I hold on to the idea my body is a map of who I am. I’ve got a bit of a tummy because I was my child’s house for the first nine months of her life.’