Strictly Come Dancing fans have branded judge Shirley Ballas "sexist" and have called for her to be sacked from the hit BBC show.The 62 year old panellist, who recently called for "respect" after receiving hurtful messages during live shows, has been accused of favouring male celebrity dancers to women on the programme. Fans of the dance competition went into a frenzy on Sunday 9 October night's segment after she backed Richie Anderson, 34, and his pro partner Giovanni Pernice, 32, who were eliminated after a dance off with Fleur East, 34, and Vito Coppola, 30. While fellow judges Craig Revel Horwood, 57, Anton Du Beke, 56, and Motsi Mabuse, 41, chose to save Fleur and Vito, Shirley said: "Well with the two couples the public put in the bottom two I would have saved Richie and Giovanni.” Host Tess Daly, 53, then pointed out that it "of course makes no difference to the results," but fans were left fuming over the ordeal and called for Shirley to be booted off the show.