Shirley Ballas takes savage swipe at AJ Pritchard and fiancée amid his feud with DWTS’ Rylee Arnold

SHIRLEY Ballas has weighed in on a feud going on between former Strictly Come Dancing pro AJ Pritchard, his fiancée and another dancer. Dancing With The Stars professional Rylee Arnold was slammed by AJ’s fiancée, Zara Zoffany, this week after criticizing his dance teaching technique. Shirley Ballas has hit out at AJ Pritchard and his fiancée Zara Zoffany amid their feud with a Dancing With The Stars professional dancer Credit: Shutterstock Editorial AJ was paired with Dancing With The Stars professional Rylee Arnold recently for the show’s spin-off, The Next Pro, but she criticized his techniques Credit: Disney/Vince Valitutti AJ is currently appearing on Dancing With The Stars: The Next Pro, which is a reality show that sees dancers battle it out to become a professional on the next season of the show – which is the US version of Strictly. Last week, he was partnered with Rylee for a challenge to see how he would coach potential partners, but she criticized his teaching technique and dubbed him “intense”. Sign up for the TV newsletter Thank you! This led to AJ’s fiancée, Zara, hitting out at Rylee via TikTok – slamming that the professional must have been doing the moves wrong for AJ to be so intense. Now, it appears Shirley – who is also appearing on the show as a judge – has chosen her side. His fiancée, Zara Zoffany, then hit out at Rylee for her comments Credit: Getty AJ is competing for a place on Dancing With The Stars as a professional Credit: ABC Backing Rylee, the longtime Head Strictly Judge wrote to Instagram that Rylee has “earned” her place on the show, and slammed “others” for not respecting her. “@ryleearnold1 has earned her place on dwts through hard work. Dedicating her time to all styles. I have a lot of respect for her. Shame others do not,” wrote Shirley when a fan asked for her opinion on the feud. Shirley and AJ worked together on BBC show Strictly for three years, before he quit in 2020. At the time, the ballroom dancing champ, who is the older brother of Love Island star Curtis Pritchard, said he was “looking forward to a new chapter”. Most read in TV However, he is now vying for a place on Dancing With The Stars to pick up where he left off on Strictly. AJ proposed to his other half Zara earlier this year, after first meeting in 2022. As well as being Strictly Come Dancing’s head judge, Shirley bagged the US gig earlier this year and is appearing on The Next Pro alongside her dancer son, Mark. Comment now