health
Shirley Ballas looks back: ‘I was crying about a breakup, so Mum smacked me round the face’
The Strictly judge and her mum on Shirley’s love of dance, being a single-parent family, and the joy of living together now
TL;DR
- Shirley's mother physically disciplined her during a difficult breakup on a cruise, a method Shirley calls 'old-school parenting'.
- Raised by a single mother, Shirley and her brother learned self-sufficiency from a young age.
- Shirley's passion for dance began at seven, and her mother worked multiple jobs to fund her lessons and competitions.
- Shirley left home at 14 to pursue dance, even marrying young twice, against her mother's advice.
- She experienced significant bullying in the male-dominated dance industry before joining Strictly Come Dancing.
- Shirley's mother, diagnosed with COPD, continues to smoke and lives life on her own terms.
- Shirley and her mother now live together, sharing a close relationship filled with mutual support and honesty.