Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas has revealed that her mother once slapped her across the face to stop her complaining about a relationship breakdown. The 63-year-old dancer recalled the incident during a cruise, saying: 'I was crying, so she smacked me round the face. You bet your life I shut up after that. That's old-school parenting, right there.'
Ballas, who grew up in Wallasey with her mother Audrey and brother after her parents divorced when she was two, said her mother worked multiple jobs to fund her dance lessons. 'Watching her operate as a single mother was a total inspiration – she taught me the harder you work, the more successful you are,' she said.
The former three-time British Professional Latin Champion left home at 14 to live with her first dance partner's family. Despite early marriages to Sammy Stopford and Corky Ballas, neither lasted. She later found success as a coach but faced bullying in the male-dominated industry before joining Strictly in 2017.
Now living with her 89-year-old mother, who has COPD, Ballas said: 'I couldn't imagine life without my mother.' Audrey, who still smokes and plans her funeral music, waits up for her daughter after Saturday night shows. 'She'll make me a cup of tea, then let me know the verdict,' Ballas added.
