Strictly's Shirley Ballas blasted minutes into show as furious fans issue same complaint

viewers called out after she decided not to "over judge" Pete Wicks.

The BBC competition returned on Saturday (November 2) and it was the former TOWIE star who took to the dance floor first. Pete, 36, and professional partner Jowita Przysta performed the Salsa to Queen's Another One Bites the Dust.

Following the performance, Shirley kicked things off by applauding Pete by embracing the character of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury perfectly, but pointed out that their dance was filled with mistakes.

The 64-year-old said: "Now, listen to me. I'm not really going to over judge this and I'll tell you why. You made quite a lot of mistakes so it wouldn't be fair to say this and that. We all know you made mistakes, we can see them."

Shirley went on to tell Pete what part of his performance impressed her, before sharing hopes that the public vote for him.

However, fans watching fumed over Shirley's decision not to critique Pete, with many claiming she wouldn't offer the same treatment to others.

Taking to social media, one fan wrote: "Shirley, you're the Head Judge of a dance competition! I'm gonna need you to judge the dancing. You can't keep letting things 'Slide' for certain contestants!!"

Another agreed: "No Shirley let's properly critique the dance like you would critique others. It was poor."

A third declared: "'I'm not gonna over judge this and I'll tell you why' - I can tell you why you're not over judging Pete, Shirley, because you're biased."

Someone else claimed: "Shirley ignoring pete's mistakes but you can guarantee if that was Sam or Tasha she wouldn't have."

After the judges' comments, Pete spoke to host about his performance and .

The reality star said: "It was definitely an honour. I think it's an ironic song for me tonight - another one bites the dust."

Pete and Jowita were awarded just 22 points out of 40 for their performance, with issuing the duo with a brutal 4.