Strictly Come Dancing 's Shirley Ballas says there's no way new judge Motsi Mabuse will be giving an unfair advantage to her sister Oti.
Before the series even began, people were crying fix over the appointment of new judge Motsi, who has already held the position on the German version of the hit show.
Now, she's coming to the BBC to replace Darcey Bussell, but Shirley promises she'll show no favouritism towards her sister Oti, who is one of the show's professionals.
Speaking to Mirror Online at tonight's red carpet launch event at London's Television Centre, Shirley said: "People love change! I can only speak for Motsi, I’ve been judging her all of her competitive career.
"She’s an amazing dancer, I was always a fantastic judge for her. Her inside is as beautiful as her outside and she has got to be the funniest person I’ve ever met in my entire life. So her sense of humour, my sense of humour really goes well together you know.
"And I feel as though she will judge without fear or favour - it’s always a question about her sister and her being in the show but I know her integrity and her family and it’s just second to none. She’s amazing."
When asked if Motsi will be a harsh judge, Shirley added: "She’s firm but fun - she says it as it is, she’ll deliver them a message every week so they can improve. She’s not a harsh person, she’s really very loveable."
Shirley also chatted about this year's line-up of celebs, and how there are going to be some unexpected changes to the show this year.
She told us: "What was interesting today was standing at the bottom of the stairs and thinking you cannot predict this.
"There are some people out there that have got athleticism, that are in your face, you’ve got some people with class and demeanour so I think it’s a highly unpredictable series.
"All I can say to the people is ‘Please vote’ because when I have to send someone home I don’t want those nasty messages on Twitter because they shouldn’t be in the bottom two if you want them to stay."
She added: "It’s going to be an amazing series. Things that you are not going to expect are going to be on this show this series. Everyone has to tune in this series."
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