BBC presenter intervenes over Strictly Come Dancing's Shirley Ballas' warning to women before apology

A BBC presenter was forced to intervene as Shirley Ballas made comments on her radio show. The Strictly Come Dancing star appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Women’s Hour with Krupa Padhy.

But the head judge on the BBC One dance contest ended up apologising after suggesting women should carry Tasers to protect themselves. It comes after Shirley recently shared she ‘travelled everywhere with caution’ because of her fame and after previously speaking out on suffering "out-of-control abuse" from trolls.

Shirley said on Women's Hour: "All women in today’s society should become more vigilant. It’s important that people take care of themselves, maybe carry Tasers, things like that. My message goes out to all women, not just women in profile it’s taking care of yourself, it’s educating yourself."

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She added: "What can you do if you were in a situation that happened to take hold of you, that you had no idea what to do." However, jumping in, host Krupa explained: "We must say that stun guns or tasers are prohibited weapons and it is an offence to possess them.’

The clarification later led to an apology from Shirley, who said she wasn’t aware Tasers were illegal in the UK, the Mirror reports. "I do not encourage violence in any way shape or form," the 63-year-old continued. "I wanted to get the message across that women should feel empowered to protect themselves, and incorrectly mentioned the use of Tasers.’

Also in the interview, the dancing show judge shared she’d signed up to self-defence classes. "I think all women in today's