The 57-year-old Ballroom dancer and new head judge looked mortified as Bruno, 61, fondled her bust as he critiqued Alexandra Burke on Waltz.
“Oh, you make me feel so good,” Bruno told the X Factor winner, 29, as he showered her in plaudits.
However, he seemed to get carried away a bit as he said: “Touchy, feely, so good” and ended up running one hand across Shirley’s ample assets.
“Oh my god!” he exclaimed straight away after realising he’d touched her a little too closely.
Host Tess Daly also seemed surprised and yelled: “Bruno! What? We are live!”
While most of the audience and the panel seemed very awestruck by the moment, Shirley seemed to take it in her stride and burst out laughing at her co-star.
Bruno carried on telling Alexandra and her partner Gorka Marquez ho much he enjoyed their Waltz to (You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman by Aretha Franklin, saying that he felt he was “enveloped in velvet”.
The scenes come as Alexandra broke down after her first performance when Shirley said that she could be a frontrunner in this year’s competition.
This evening Emmerdale actress Gemma Atkinson kicked off the first show with Aljaž Skorjanec as they performed a Cha Cha to Shawn Mendes’ There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back.
However, judge Craig Revel Horwood was not a fan and laid into her performance, criticising her technique.
The 52-year-old told the soap star, 32: “I thought it was all a little bit blocky and square if I’m being honest,” he said, as the audience booed. “Your free arm needs a service as well, darling.
“You have to remember the free arm also has to work,” he added, reeling off a list of criticisms. “And you have to also anticipate the changes in direction otherwise it loses fluidity.”
Overall, the veteran judge concluded: “I thought it was just a little bit on the heavy side.”
Strictly Come Dancing continues on BBC One next Saturday at 6.45pm.
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