Real life of BBC Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas - tragic loss, famous son, younger boyfriend and surgery 'regret'
25.12.2023 - 16:31
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Shirley Ballas is arguably the Strictly Come Dancing judge contestants want to impress the most as the one with the casting vote during each results show. Dancing since she was seven, the Cheshire-born ballroom dancer has never been shy of giving her professional critique on the BBC One show, even when her comments have proved unpopular.
The 63-year-old has been dancing competitively since she was a child, winning several championship titles in her specialism, International Latin and being named the 'Queen of Latin'. So it's little wonder the BBC catapulted her into the role of head judge on Strictly.
She joined the hit show in 2017 when she was 57 years old, replacing the now late Len Goodman, and the role breathed new life into her career and brought with it plenty of new fans and followers. Previously speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Shirley said: "I think on Strictly everybody sees me as the glamour woman in her early sixties and they appreciate what they see and the job that they do.
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"But it [her book, Behind the Sequins] shows a childhood from humble beginnings with all sorts of things that went so wrong in my life. My brother committed suicide and I had husbands that were just one of them with so many affairs and then when I left the country and left my industry and had to start again.
"I would like to think it gives people hope and I’d like to think the book inspires them with a journey of it’s never too late." She added: "Who’d have ever thought at 57 I’d get that job on Strictly, particularly with everything I
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