Piers Morgan challenges Strictly judge Shirley Ballas on Good Morning Britain for forgetting Charlotte Hawkins’ name

He poked fun at "Mary Ballas" for mixing her up with co-star Mollie King

This competition is now closed

Published: Monday, 16th October 2017 at 9:55 am

Charlotte Hawkins had an emotional return to Good Morning Britain after her departure from Strictly Come Dancing – but her moment was cut short by Piers Morgan, who absorbed the spotlight to poke fun at head judge Shirley Ballas.

The Strictly judge called Charlotte ‘Mollie’ on Saturday night, momentarily confusing her with fellow Strictly celebrity Mollie King, and Morgan was not about to let her forget it.

“Mary Ballas just tweeted a sort of half apology for being so mean to Charlotte,” Morgan said, before criticising her for misspelling the word “to” in her tweet. “Not only can she not even remember Charlotte’s name, but she can’t spell ‘to'”.

“I mean, what are judges coming to? When I was judging world talent shows, this wasn’t happening. I got people’s names right, and I spelled things correctly. It’s not too much to ask, is it, Mary?”

Ballas apologised on Saturday night after mistakenly calling Charlotte Mollie on the show.

So sorry for accidentally calling Charlotte Mollie. Of course I know who they both are. It was a genuine mistake. Apologies to Charlotte x

— Shirley Ballas (@ShirleyBallas) October 14, 2017

The country has too vote not me.

— Shirley Ballas (@ShirleyBallas) October 16, 2017

Hawkins was clearly sad to bid farewell to the competition, admitting she had found the experience rather draining: “It’s a hard thing to put yourself through. Not only dance training eight hours a day, but mentally stepping out on the night was a huge thing to do.”

When you get eliminated from #Strictly but remember you have to work with @piersmorgan over the next three days ???? … @CharlotteHawkns pic.twitter.com/L95jhN1Gai

— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) October 16, 2017

But she was unable to shed any light upon the rumours that her partner Brendan Cole, who has had a fiery relationship with Ballas, is set to quit the show.

“I’m seeing him later, I’ll ask him later then, we can find out,” she said.

Strictly Come Dancing airs Saturdays and Sundays on BBC1