STRICTLY SPLIT
My love life’s a disaster… I’ve been married twice, engaged 4 times & now I’ve broken up with Danny, says Shirley Ballas
The TV star and Danny Taylor got engaged in 2021 after they met while appearing in panto together in late 2018
EVERY Saturday, she is the belle of the ballroom on TV as eager dancers try to seduce her into awarding a bumper score.
But away from Strictly Come Dancing, Shirley Ballas concedes her love life is a disaster, after last month splitting from her partner of six years.
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The twice-married, four-times engaged BBC show judge says the loves of her life are her son, Mark, 38, and her 87-year-old mum, Audrey.
Confirming for the first time that she and toyboy fiance Danny Taylor are over, Shirley, 64, said: “Currently, I’ve just split with my boyfriend.
“My relationships have been a disaster, all the way along the line.”
“But what I am truly grateful for is that I still have my mother, and that she lives with me, and I get these precious moments with her.
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“Because my mother is the only thing that’s been a staple in my life.
“No friend, no marriage, no nothing.”
The heartbreaking confirmation, on today’s Great Company podcast, comes five weeks after The Sun first revealed that Shirley had ended her relationship with Danny, 51.
The pair got engaged in 2021 after they met while appearing in panto together in late 2018.
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The TV star, who had been single for four and a half years, was playing Mother Nature and Danny was evil Fleshcreep in Jack And The Beanstalk in Liverpool.
But this January, Shirley revealed the pair had called off their engagement. By the end of their relationship, they were living separate lives.
Strictly's Shirley Ballas reveals the real reason Pete Wicks has got so far in the competition
Sources say they have remained friends, but blame the distance between Danny’s home in Liverpool and Shirley’s life down south with her mother.
Shirley said: “You know, all I keep saying at the end of the day is I’m blessed to have had my son, and without the journey I took, I wouldn’t have him, and then I wouldn’t have my grandson.
“So, it’s fate, if you want to, it’s directions that you choose.”
Shirley was first engaged at the age of 16 to her then-ballroom partner Nigel Tiffany.
She went on to marry her dance partner Sammy Stopford when she was 18, but the union lasted four years before she ran away to America with Texan dancer Corky Ballas.
They tied the knot in 1985 and welcomed son Mark the following year.
But the marriage ended in 2007 amid rumours Corky had an affair with Strictly dancer Kristina Rihanoff.
Looking back over her romances, Shirley said: “I’m still friendly with Nigel, who was my first fiancé.
“And then I ran off with Sammy Stopford, and we went right to the top in the dancing, and then I went to America, and I married Corky, 22 years, then I left.
“Then I’ve had a couple of boyfriends, and that all ended in disaster.
“Could I have made this marriage work? Should I have stayed here? Should I have done . . . shoulda, shoulda, shoulda, shoulda, shoulda?”
Shirley is still in touch with both Nigel and Sammy.
I was just talking to my ex-husband the other day — that was my first husband, by the way, just in case you get confused — I’ve had a few
Shirley Ballas
Of the latter, she said: “I was just talking to my ex-husband the other day — that was my first husband, by the way, just in case you get confused — I’ve had a few.
“And he made some sarcastic crack, which he does on a daily basis. He’s got a beautiful son who’s an opera singer, Samuel. And I said to him, ‘If we had stayed together, you wouldn’t have Samuel and I wouldn’t have Mark’. So, you know, we both agree on that, even though there was a lot of pain with us splitting up.”
But Shirley, who reveals on the podcast that she has been in therapy for 17 years, knows her problems go back to her parents’ relationship.
Her dad George Rich walked out on the family when Shirley was two years old, leaving mum Audrey to bring up her and her older brother, David.
Shirley said: “I look back and I never had that example of that family environment.
“I’m not the most trusting person at all, and I think that all comes from childhood and the ups, the downs.
“It was really fending for yourself from that age and my dad never did anything. Not even bought me a pair of dance shoes. I think it just makes you a little bit hardened on the inside.
“Nigel was probably the right person at the wrong time. He was four years older than me. He was kind, caring.
“And maybe, just maybe, because I’d never had that in my life from a man — that fatherly thing — he kind of filled that void, that need for me.
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‘He’d be there for me’
“And then, of course, when he and I split, and I went on to be with Sammy, he also had that same feeling.”
She went on: “Sammy and I, and as much as people in the industry have always tried to stop that connection, I think we’ll have it till the day we die.
“We’ve had our ups and downs. We’ve fought like cats and dogs over the years, but I can still call him, and I know in my heart that if my life fell apart tomorrow, he could be that person that I could call. He’d be there for me. That makes me emotional.
“And Nigel, my first fiancé, is my financial adviser.”
What I am truly grateful for is that I still have my mother, and that she lives with me, and I get these precious moments with her, because she is the only staple in my life
Shirley Ballas
Now she has hinted at what went wrong with fiance number four, Danny, who is a trained ballroom dancer and has also appeared in soaps including Brookside and The Bill.
When The Sun revealed their split, a source said: “She gave her all to that relationship and in the end came to the realisation it wasn’t going anywhere.
“She made a lot of effort to see Danny and support his theatre and panto work, travelling up and down the country.
“Distance also played its part. Shirley lives in London with her mother and Danny remains based in Liverpool — that commute is a killer.”
Lifting the lid further, Shirley told podcast host Jamie Laing: “What turns me off is a liar, somebody who says they’ll be there and isn’t.
“And that could come from my past. If you say you’re going to be there at 12 o’clock, please be there, because it’s your time and mine.”
What I’ve learned, happy for me now, is I’ve got this little grandson, and I enjoy my FaceTime call every day with my son
Shirley Ballas
It is clear being abandoned by her father has cast a shadow over Shirley’s whole life.
It was only after the death of her brother David, from suicide in 2003, that she reconnected with dad George. He died at the age of 83 in April 2021.
She reasoned: “I’m trying to let go of a lot of things, but I think a little bit hard to let go is that time with my dad not being there and present.
“I know he’s passed now, but I’m still working on just letting it go.
“I did care for my dad. I mean, you only get one dad, and throughout the years, I did see him occasionally, but nothing that was, like, deep . . . never really that deep feeling that it leaves a young girl, that could have done with a dad there.
“He was that kind of dad that might say, ‘I’m coming to get the kids’, on a Sunday.
‘I’m blessed’
“My mum would get us all ready in the little council flat. You know, best clothes on, standing by the window, and he never turned up, over and over and over again.
“Mum would go to the little corner phone box and let him have it and he would say, ‘Oh, don’t worry, I’ve got the gifts in the mail’. Never received a gift. Never got a Christmas gift. Never got a Christmas card or birthday card.”
The experience made Shirley who she is today — and left her with the profound love she feels for her mum. Audrey moved in with the Strictly judge in 2021, three years after fighting colon cancer.
At the time, Shirley said she was “thrilled” by the move, even though Danny was also under the same roof.
Shirley continued: “I have repaid every ounce of my soul, every sinew of my body, back to my mother.
“I like to think that one day, when it’s her time to pass, that I will have given everything I could to the person who’s given me everything I have.
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I’m blessed that my son calls me the majority of the time, every day, and I have that relationship with him, and I like being with my mother when she’s cooking in the evening
Shirley Ballas
“So, there’s nothing, nothing too great or too much I could do for her in any shape or form.
“If I make a promise, to the best of my ability I will carry it through.
“If I see somebody needs help, I will be the person that’s there trying my best to help.”
The attitude means that despite her split — and being single for the first time in years — Shirley is feeling chipper.
And it’s not only due to another stellar series of the BBC dance show, but also to her family, including grandson Banksi, one, son of Mark and his wife, American singer BC Jean.
Shirley added: “People say, ‘Do you love yourself? Are you happy?’.
“And I just say, ‘What’s happy?’.
“What I’ve learned, happy for me now, is I’ve got this little grandson, and I enjoy my FaceTime call every day with my son.
“I’m blessed that my son calls me the majority of the time, every day, and I have that relationship with him, and I like being with my mother when she’s cooking in the evening.
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“Everything else for me is just moving along the bus and keeping moving.”
- Great Company with Jamie Laing airs today on YouTube and on all major podcast platforms.
SHIRLEY BACKS OUR CAMPAIGN
DAME Shirley backed The Sun’s SOS Christmas Appeal for Age UK, which aims to ensure no older person feels alone during the festive season.
Praising the vital work of the charity, Shirley said: “Christmas is meant to be a joyful time, but for some older people it can be the hardest time of the year.
“I urge anyone who knows of an older person who might be alone this Christmas to reach out and check in on them and see if they are OK.
“My mum lives with me, but I would hope if I wasn’t around, someone would have the compassion to reach out to her.
“Making a donation to Age UK’s fantastic work across the country, or donating time to pick up the phone to someone once a week, is a wonderful gift to give this Christmas.
“I applaud The Sun in shining a light at this time of year on Age UK’s wonderful work and its compassionate volunteers.”
HOW TO HELP: You can make a donation online at ageuk.org.uk/christmassos.
You can donate by text: To give £5, text SOS5 to 70507. To give £10, text SOS10 to 70507.
Or you can give the gift of your time by signing up as an Age UK telephone friendship volunteer.
Find out more at ageuk.org.uk/volunteer.