Strictly’s Shirley Ballas cruelly shamed by dancing judge weeks after giving birth

Strictly's Shirley Ballas opens up on dark side of dancing as she relives 'terrible' bullying.   Credit: Good Morning Britain, ITV

Transcript

00:00 You know, when I was younger, everybody,

00:01 certain teachers used to say, you know, you're too fat,

00:04 you're bigger than your partner.

00:05 So it was always a weight issue.

00:06 And then another time when I gave birth to my son,

00:09 I was 25 and I came back six weeks later

00:12 to do a competition and my coach actually said,

00:14 we don't want to see your stretch marks

00:15 and your big fat legs.

00:16 And he marked us third that day

00:18 and we didn't win our championship.

00:20 And I never forgot that.

00:21 It made me feel so terrible about my body

00:23 when I'd just given birth.

00:25 So I think now it's a lot better.

00:27 People are more sensitive to what they say,

00:29 But back then, there was no filter.