STRICTLY star Ellie Simmonds revealed her secret “anger” towards head judge Shirley Ballas on Saturday night, a body language expert has claimed.
Five-time Paralympic gold medallist swimmer Ellie, 27, has broken down boundaries by being the BBC show’s first contestant to compete with dwarfism.
Nikita Kuzmin and Ellie Simmonds made it through week five of Strictly
She’s made it through five weeks of the competition – and impressed the judges and viewers with her talent.
But last weekend, 27-year-old Ellie looked furious by comments made about an “illegal lift” in her Paso Doble with Nikita Kuzmin.
Shirley scolded the pair for including the move in their choreography and deducted a point from her score.
Darren Stanton, a body language and behaviour expert, speaking on behalf of WeLoveBrum, also said the dedicated sportswoman is now determined to win the glitterball trophy.
Darren told The Celeb Report: “When the couple were receiving their feedback it was clear Ellie especially was not happy and there was a seriousness to her expression compared with other weeks.
“This was clear when Shirley levelled a criticism about an illegal lift, Ellie did not like this and flashed a look of anger, suggesting she did not agree and was frustrated with the analysis – although of course she knows it’s the job of the judges to offer up criticism so didn’t verbally argue with them.
“I think she is now moving up several gears, as we saw a very different level of determination this week.
“Also, on the results show she was one of the last few to be put through to next week’s Halloween special and we saw a much tenser side to Ellie‘s expressions.
“I think she thought she was going to be in the dance off and there was evidence of relief in her whole body, along with a facial expression of sheer delight, when they were put through to next week.
“I maintain that Ellie is one of the strongest contenders to win the competition as overall she’s clearly bringing into play all of the core values like perseverance, motivation, passion and plain old hard work into her performances.”
Ellie, 27, has achondroplasia, a type of dwarfism that results in short limbs and normal-sized torso.
The swimmer admitted she was worried about how the height difference between her and her partner would work – and feared she might get trolled.
The sports star said: “I’ve had it already. Some people have said, ‘How’s the dwarf going to dance?’ It’s sad and it does get to you.”
But Ellie is determined to embrace the whole Strictly experience – and has been getting mostly rave reviews from the judges.
She finished 8th in the leaderboard last week after scoring 29 points.
The star will return to the dancefloor tomorrow night for Strictly’s Halloween-themed weekend.
