It looks like Shirley Ballas is trying to usurp Craig Revel Horwood's position as the Mean Judge of Strictly Come Dancing – with even Craig slamming her for being overly critical.

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In fact, their bickering was so intense that Darcey Bussell actually had to step in when her two fellow judges clashed about Steps star Faye Tozer's Viennese Waltz in week two of Strictly Come Dancing.

Despite praising Faye and partner Giovanni Pernice's "lovely storytelling," Shirley told them: "My issue again is when you’re moving forward you should be the person who’s driving, and you should be going forward on your heel, and you went forward every step on your toe."

However, Craig was having none of it.

"I think you totally both shattered that old fashioned Viennese Waltz ballroom thing," he said. "Don’t listen to anything Shirley’s got to say, darling."

He added: "That was absolutely gaw-jus."

Faye Tozer on Strictly

But the comments incensed Shirley and the two began a heated discussion, with Craig saying: "Shirley, all of that stuff will come later," as Shirley defended her comments – arguing that it's best to fix technical mistakes now.

Poor Darcey was caught in the middle, leaving her to keep the peace and bring an end to the row.

Craig's comments are particularly surprising given that he's traditionally favoured constructive technical feedback, which has often earned him him boos from the audience.

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Faye went on to score an impressive 31 points for her dance to It's A Man's World by Seal, placing her joint second on the leaderboard.


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Eleanor Bley GriffithsDrama Editor, RadioTimes.com
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