Born in Wallasey, Shirley Ballas, 57, became one of the most decorated ballroom and Latin dancers in the world. She is a three-time winner of the British Open to the World Latin American Championships, retired from competitive dancing in 1996 and became a coach and adjudicator. In 2017, she replaced Len Goodman as head judge on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, which returns for a 16th series later this year. She divides her time between LA and London.
When were you happiest?
When I found out that I was having my baby. They told me I was having a little girl and I named it Elizabeth. Then, when the baby was born it was my beautiful boy, Mark.
What is your greatest fear?
My brother David killed himself 14 years ago, so I am always nervous that something will happen to those closest to me. I don’t like the darkness and sleep with the light on.
What is your earliest memory?
When I was three or four, dancing in front of the TV in my ballet slippers to annoy David.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
I am an absolute clean freak and scrub things constantly; I am an over-perfectionist.
What was your most embarrassing moment?
I am terrible at remembering names. When my son was getting married to [singer-songwriter] BC Jean, I kept calling her CB Jean. She, in turn, would say, “Hi Shelby”. I remembered her name after that.
What is your most treasured possession?
My brother’s urn. When I am meditating, it sits in my lap.
What is your wallpaper?
My son’s debut as Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys on Broadway.
What makes you unhappy?
Friends who are nice to my face when they want something, but then take a 10-inch knife and stick it in my back.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
I have a little piece of extra skin – a good inch – on the end of my chin that I play with like Silly Putty.
Who would play you in the film of your life?
Millie Bobby Brown.
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Dancing was in my bones from when I started ballet at two.
What do you owe your parents?
My father wasn’t in my life very long and I was raised by a single mother, so I owe her everything.
What has been your biggest disappointment?
People close to me throwing me under a bus for a crust.
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
I would be much more available for my brother when he was not well and try to understand more about mental health, which I didn’t know anything about at the time.
How often do you have sex?
Not often lately, darling!
What is the closest you’ve come to death?
In my dreams: I’ll feel as if I am falling towards a white light and then suddenly I wake up.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Getting the job on Strictly at the age of 56.
What song would you like played at your funeral?
We’ve Only Just Begun by The Carpenters.
Tell us a secret
I’d love to meet Mr Special. I’ve been single for three years.
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