Shirley Ballas has revealed the reason behind making a U-turn decision on marrying Danny Taylor.
The Strictly head judge, 63, got engaged to Danny, 50, back in 2021, after they first met in 2018.
Shirley previously said she ‘would have married him tomorrow if he asked me’ before she got engaged, but two years on from the proposal she has had a change of mind.
The former professional dancer spoke about why she doesn’t walk up the aisle again on Alan Carr’s Life’s A Beach podcast, released on Monday.
‘Two marriages, an engagement, two long-term relationships later and I will not be getting married again. I’ve made the decision’, she told the comedian.
Shirley Ballas has revealed the reason behind making a U-turn decision on marrying Danny Taylor
Shirley was previously married to former ballroom star Sammy Stopford from 1980 to 1984 before tying the knot with dancer Corky Ballas in 1985 with the couple splitting up in 2007 after 22 years together
She said: ‘My mum says they’re like buses – you get on one and you get off the other. It’s fine.
‘I just have to get used to that again. I was engaged at 16, married at 19. Remarried at 23 and then two-long term relationships.’
Shirley and Danny – who have a 13 year age difference – met at pantomime rehearsals for Jack And The Beanstalk in 2018 and have been inseparable ever since.
The head judge said to MailOnline last year about the idea of marriage: ‘I’ve changed my mind. I just feel that at this particular point in my life, my mother and I have got this great relationship and we want to do some travelling and there is different things we want to do’.
‘[The relationship is] going good – I’m busy, he’s busy and we talk to each other every day – several times a day, and my mum talks to him as well’.
During an interview on Lorraine last month, Shirley said still has scars’ from her past marriages.
Shirley previously claimed she felt ‘so alone and isolated’ in her relationship with Sammy while ex-husband, Corky, ‘fat-shamed’ her while she was pregnant.
Shirley previously said she ‘would have married him tomorrow if he asked me’ before she got engaged, but two years on from their engagement she has had a change of mind
The Strictly head judge has been married twice, first to Sammy Stopford from 1980 to 1984, and then to Corky Ballas (pictured) from 1985 to 2007
Shirley recently became a grandmother as her son Mark welcomed his first child with his wife BC Jean
Shirley previously said she ‘would have married him tomorrow if he asked me’ before she got engaged, but two years on from their engagement she has had a change of mind
She said: ‘It is getting better as I am getting older but some of the scars from when I was married and from throughout my life will stay with me for a very long time.
‘Each woman should know that we all come in different shapes and sizes and we are all beautiful in our own right.’
Shirley added: ‘I try to look at myself in the mirror now whenever I walk past and when I get out of the shower. For years I couldn’t do that.’
‘Back in the day when I started dancing at 16-years-old image was such a big thing. The world is changing now but we don’t need people to criticise us when we do that enough ourselves.’
In 2020, the ‘Queen of Latin’ discussed her tumultuous 22-year marriage to Corky in her autobiography, Behind The Sequins.
In the book, Shirley also alleges that the fellow professional dancer even ‘hid a large cockroach’ under a doughnut while she was pregnant with their son Mark, 37.
In an extract obtained by The Sun, the Strictly judge said: ‘Get too big and I’m out the door. I don’t do fat, Shirley. He started monitoring everything I ate, then he secretly got hold of my doughnut box and hid a large cockroach under the glazing.
‘When I ate my next doughnut, the cockroach crackled in my mouth with the legs dangling on the outside.
‘This made me vomit straight away. No doubt he thought this “creative” solution was to “save me from myself” and that I would ultimately thank him, but for anybody to want to do this to a pregnant woman is hard to believe.’
MailOnline contacted both Corky;s representatives for comment at the time.
Shirley was first married to Sammy, who she fell for when she became a professional dancer at age 17; they then worked together until 1983, during which time they got married.
The star, who boasts a 40-year career as a Latin dancer, then met Corky and inevitably got divorced from Sammy.
Shirley married Corky in 1985 and they went on to win a string of international dancing titles.
Shirley and Corky originally split in 2003, where he went on to have a five-year relationship with former Strictly star Kristina Rihanoff after becoming her dance teacher. Kristina is now in a relationship with former celebrity partner Ben Cohen.
She credited her new boyfriend Danny Taylor with helping her to overcome her self-esteem issues.
