The BBC has gone to war with the judges of Strictly Come Dancing over wage demands, telling them: “Read the room, take what we offer or leave.”
They are said to be particularly upset with Shirley Ballas, who some bosses would like to see removed from the program.
Corporation sources told the Chron that they are refusing to respond to demands for an 11% pay rise being made by her and co-stars Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke, fearing that the situation could now become ‘very nasty’ between the BBC and the stars.
The Chiefs are also furious that the foursome have “unionized” to get their wishes – with many suspecting it is Ms Ballas who is fueling the fight for more money.
They are also understood to have been furious with her and publicly said she might not return to the show last month as trolling the British public was behind her reluctance to return.
Behind-the-scenes drama: The BBC has gone to war with its harsh judges over salary demands, telling them ‘read the room, take what we offer, or leave’ (LR) Anton du Beke; Shirley Ballas; Motsi Mabuse; Craig Revel Horwood
In the line of fire: You are said to be particularly angry with Shirley Ballas, who some bosses would like to see removed
Shirley, who is currently earning £500,000 for her three-month appearance on the show, came under fire as a judge last year when she was accused of ageism and sexism.
A BBC insider said: “We can’t justify giving them what they want and it’s up to them. They can leave if they want, of course it’s not the preferred outcome, but they have to read the space.
“Your viewers are truly struggling to survive in the midst of a cost of living crisis.
“They’re paid as good as it is and right now it looks like they’re not going to get a raise at all, so it’s up to them.
“But you can’t exactly see anywhere else that any of them are paid the way they’re paid at the BBC. They have the ball.
“As for Shirley saying she may not return to the show because of trolling, firstly we could see through her strategy and secondly not look at Twitter.”
However, sources close to Ms Ballas, 62, responded to the criticism that they, Mr Revel Horwood, 58, Ms Mabuse, 42, and Mr Du Beke, 56, have suffered after demanding the pay rise – and insisted that salaries would be frozen during Covid means they have been earning the same since 2019.
They also argue strict BBC rules mean they can’t make extra money from social media endorsement deals and they have to be on-call throughout the series.
Dream on: Sources at the corporation told the Chron that they are refusing to respond to demands for an 11% pay rise made by her and co-stars Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke, and fear the situation could now become “very nasty” between the BBC and the stars
Lucrative: The requested promotion would result in head judge Shirley, who currently earns £500,000 for her three-month tenure, earning a staggering £15,960 an hour on the show
The source said: “The request for a pay rise comes as there has not been a pay rise since Covid. People inside and outside the BBC have had annual raises, so Shirley and the other judges believe they have the same right.
How much do the strict judges earn?
Shirley Ballas – £500,000
Craig Revel Horwood – £200,000
Motsi Mabuse – £200,000
Anton Du Beke – £180,000
“Being a part of Strictly also means making sacrifices. Unlike other channels, the BBC does not allow Instagram endorsements, which are very lucrative.
A BBC spokesman declined to comment.
It comes after Shirley revealed her son Mark has set rules if she is due to return to Strictly later this year after considering quitting due to her mental health.
She said she had to seek medical attention for bad mood and anxiety while struggling with the relentless trolling during last year’s series.
In a new interview, the TV star revealed she had reached out to her 36-year-old son Mark for advice after he recently announced his departure from America’s Dancing With The Stars after 20 seasons.
The star has faced horrific online abuse and also cruel taunts about her looks.
But speaking to former Strictly contestant Kaye Adams on the How to be 60 podcast, Shirley revealed Mark has set some ground rules to keep her from sinking back into depression and anxiety.
“I just got back from meeting Mark and we sat down to discuss the whole thing. “Do you want to do Strictly again, what were the gotchas, gotchas for your mom?” she said.
Speaking of which, it comes after Shirley revealed her son Mark has set rules if she is due to return to Strictly later this year after considering quitting due to her mental health
Candid: The judge had to seek medical attention due to bad mood and anxiety as she struggled to cope with the relentless trolling during last year’s series, but Mark was on hand to support her (pictured with son Mark)
“It makes me emotional. He was absolutely amazing, saying: “You know, everyone gets it mum, it doesn’t matter who you are, what level you are at, if you go on social media someone is going to troll and at their computer sit. it makes their day to make you miserable”.
‘He said, ‘So if you want to take Strictly back, those are the rules I would follow if I were you.’
“So we sat with him and his beautiful wife for many hours and I felt a lot better when I got away from it because I took a break after the Strictly tour.
“I’ve turned down a lot of things that have been offered to me for personal reasons and I just wanted to clear my head and see what I want to do.
Shirley continued: “Do I want to continue, don’t I want to continue?” And my son helped me with that. I feel in a much, much better place.”
Ballas, who took on the role of head judge in 2017, said she actually made a conscious decision to be kinder to the contestants after speaking to her son at the end of her first series.
Talented: Mark recently left Dancing With The Stars after winning the show with celebrity Charli D’Amelio
She said, “Well, after the first year and also talking to my son because I was like, ‘What were you thinking when you saw Mark on TV?'” he said, “I actually bounced back mom.”
‘ ‘Oh, that’s a bit difficult,’ he said, ‘these people put their shoes on for three months, that’s not the cosmopolitan British like the mother of the American championships, you can still give a good, honest critique, it it’s just the way you do it.’
But Shirley said the relentless criticism of her decisions as chief justice has taken its toll.
“I let the walls down and let people in, then the criticism was a little harder to take,” she said.
“Social media was second to none last year – it was pretty tough.
“I remember being at work one day and reposting something someone had posted just because I was so angry at all the horrible messages I was receiving.
“I reposted it and then this gentleman got trolled. He got in touch with my team.
“He and I ended up on the phone because I didn’t want him to suffer, if you will.
“And he said to me, ‘I’m so sorry, I wrote that, but you sent home someone that we really loved and I just moved on and ranted.’
‘I said, ‘Well, maybe you were just one tirade too many for me’.
“I don’t think people realize the impact they can have on someone checking their social media.
“This year I’m going to have someone doing my social media and I’m not going to be privy to all of that because it really affected me last year.”