Shirley Ballas, 65, confirms she’s back on the dating scene and ‘looking for somebody with intellect’ – a year after ending her relationship with boyfriend Danny Taylor, 52

Shirley Ballas is in the mood for love, as the old song goes. 

‘I may have had a date or two,’ admits the Strictly head judge, who gave up on romance after she split with boyfriend Danny Taylor just over a year ago and focused on looking after her mother Audrey, who is 88. 

But now she is open to possibilities again. ‘I know my truth. I know my authentic self, and if I want to go out on a date I will go. Nothing serious. No labels, no tags.’

Any date will have to wait for a few weeks, though, because Shirley, 65, is about to set off on the Strictly live arena tour for 30 shows around the country with celebrities and professionals from the last series and more, playing to packed houses of over 10,000 people and re-creating the competition with the potential of a new winner every night. 

‘I love being able to meet the crowds,’ she says. ‘I feel I should give as much time as I can to those people who come to see us and make them feel special, because if it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t have a show like we’ve got.’

But in between Strictly, teaching and adjudicating, and sharing a home with Audrey in southeast London, Shirley has found time for a little flirtation. 

‘I’ve met several nice people over the years. If somebody asks me out and I like them, I go. If I don’t, I don’t bother. I am very careful, though, when I do go out with someone. I will have known them for a while.’

Shirley’s first husband was ballroom dancer Sammy Stopford, to whom she was married for four years in the 80s. Then she wed her dance partner Corky Ballas in 1985 and together they won many major dance championships before splitting in 2007.

She joined Strictly as head judge in 2017, won viewers over immediately with her expert knowledge, strict standards and Scouse warmth, and met Danny in pantomime the following year. 

They separated in late 2024, so what is she looking for now? 

‘Humour. I like somebody with some intellect.’ Generosity, too. ‘I’ve always been that person that pays for everybody, so it’s actually quite nice when they say, “No, I’ve got this.” I think, “Oh, this is nice.” Somebody who’s smart, well kept, takes care of themselves. I like that kind of guy.’

That guy will be dating someone who describes herself as very organised indeed.

‘I juice throughout the day and have only one meal. I’m the slimmest I’ve been since 2017. I do hotpod yoga every day and get quite upset if I can’t do it. That is my sanctuary,’ she says. 

‘I go to the gym when I can. If it’s green and grown in the ground, I like to eat it. That doesn’t mean I don’t cheat. These are the rules for me, not for anybody else.’

What does she have as a treat? ‘If I’m in my mum’s bedroom she has a whole box of Quality Street, but I’ll just have the one. Self-discipline is key. I don’t procrastinate. 

‘I’ve never gone outside my door without making my bed. I tidy before the cleaner comes. I write lists. I’m never late. I never let anybody down.’

Is she doing Dry January? ‘I don’t need to because I don’t really drink that much, but if I go on a date or something, then that might be a nice bottle of wine and a brandy with one ice cube at the end.’

Any suitor will have to be good at managing diaries, she says. ‘I’m a grandmother. I do charity work. I’m with the BBC. I have my own full-time job, so I don’t really have much time, but as I say, I have been on a couple of dates.’

Her main focus is still her mother. ‘She’s in remission from cancer. She has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD]. We’ve just had another bout of that. She’s doing the best one can do for an 88-year-old with that disease.’

Does that make it hard to go away on tour? ‘I always have people who can look out for her. My best friend of 60 years lives over the road. She bought the house I sold when I got divorced. I’ve got good neighbours. There’s always somebody around. I check in on Mum every couple of hours. She thinks I’m a total pain in the a***.’

Audrey has clear views when it comes to the big question of who’s going to replace Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman as hosts of Strictly. 

‘My mother said, “Can you not make it happen that Rylan is the main presenter and Judge Rinder is up in the Clauditorium?” [The platform above the dance floor where Claudia interviews those who have just performed.] 

‘I said, “I’ll put a good word in for you, Mum.” So that’s who my mother would like.’

Shirley’s fellow judge Anton Du Beke has made no secret of the fact he’d love to host, as his hero once did. 

‘He’s a mini Bruce Forsyth,’ Shirley says. ‘I think in his mind he feels that if he got the opportunity to audition, he’d jump at it. But he’s also a fantastic judge. He’s my dance husband. I would miss him if he wasn’t sat next to me.’

The pair of them as hosts, maybe? ‘I’m quite happy to sit in my lane, darling. I’m a dancer from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. Although I think hosting is fabulous for those that enjoy it.’

So Anton and Shirley are out of the running as a pair, but another name comes up: the winner of The Celebrity Traitors. 

‘I love Alan Carr, he’s a wonderful man. Maybe he’d be good in the Clauditorium.’ That’s as far as she’ll go with an endorsement. ‘Whoever they pick will be absolutely sensational.’

Motsi Mabuse is not going on the tour, but Anton and Craig Revel Horwood are, and Shirley is looking forward to hanging out with them.

‘They spoil me. We go out for dinner, they never leave me out of anything. They make sure I’m always where I need to be. They’re very loving, although Anton is quite the trickster.

‘Last year he came to pick me up in my room and he stole my big girl pants from Marks & Spencer and put them in his top pocket. Then he went out in front of an audience of 10,000 people that night with them. 

‘He told the audience, “I know you think she’s glamorous, but I want you to see the size of her drawers.” It was so funny.’

The jokes are sometimes fruitier on tour. ‘Craig pushes the envelope. He’s really on the cusp of what you can and can’t say. A lot of innuendo. I love their banter.’

Some of the cast play their own version of The Traitors backstage. 

‘Neil Jones [one of the professionals] is in charge. They re-create the whole game, with their own rules. It’s not a board game. It goes on for three weeks and they put a few bob in the kitty for the winner. I don’t play it. I can’t work out who’s a Traitor and who’s a Faithful.’

Among those on the tour is actor Lewis Cope, who was voted off Strictly before the final despite being widely thought of as one of the best dancers ever seen on the show. 

‘That was heartbreaking. He just brought such a ray of sunshine to the whole show. Nobody saw his elimination coming, but the country spoke and one must respect that.’

Lewis appeared in Billy Elliot in the West End, and Strictly viewers tend not to vote for anyone they perceive as having an unfair advantage because of previous dance experience. Shirley seems exasperated by this. 

‘There’s nowhere in our rules that says you can’t have dance experience. Not to my knowledge, anyway. It doesn’t say that every person that comes on this show should be a beginner and not know how to put the left foot in front of the right. I think the public have made this rule up somehow.

‘Lewis might have had dance experience, but what about the actors who can do their thing, or the Gladiators or footballers who come on with great stamina, great balance? But at the end of the day, it’s the people’s choice who stays or goes.’

The people chose Karen Carney, former member of the Lionesses England football team, as 2025’s glitterball winner.

Her balance and stamina certainly helped, but she also underwent a classic Strictly journey from novice to dancer. Viewers voted for Karen over Amber Davies, who had dance training and experience in West End musicals.

Maybe some of Shirley’s strong feelings about the public bias comes from the fact that her son Mark, a professional on Dancing With The Stars (the US version of Strictly), was eliminated in the semi-final for similar reasons. Like Lewis, his celebrity partner Whitney Leavitt scored highly with the judges but failed to win over the voting audience, having had dance training.

‘Those things cut deep with me, because I feel for the person who’s worked extremely hard,’ she says. ‘I did say to Lewis – as I said to my own son – sometimes you don’t have to hold that glitterball trophy to become a superstar.’ 

How will she greet Lewis when they meet again on the tour? ‘He’ll get a big snuggle-bunny cuddle. We’ll all get round him. We might have a tear or two, then the show will go on.’

How about the scandals that have rocked Strictly? Have they tainted it? ‘I don’t think anything taints the show,’ she says, defiantly. ‘We’re still thriving. We’ve still got a 54 per cent share of the TV audience.’

First, professionals Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima left after being accused of mistreating their celebrity partners. ‘I only ever go by what I see,’ says Shirley. ‘If I see it, I can comment on it. If I don’t, as my mother says, “Shut your gob, Shirley, and get on with your own life.”’

Then, last summer, the BBC launched an investigation into allegations of drug use by two Strictly performers, while two men associated with the show were arrested on suspicion of rape, one in August and one in October. 

When the police get involved, surely that’s more than social media tittle-tattle?

‘I don’t get into that part. I don’t even know who the people are they’re talking about, they’re not specific. So I just go in, I get on with my job. I can’t speak for other people or the police or the BBC. I can only speak for myself.’

That’s fair enough, but does it not worry her that even long-term fans have wondered whether it was right to go on watching as the scandals broke? 

‘My message is, “If you think the show is icky, switch it off. If you enjoy it, continue to watch.”’ She’s passionate about this. ‘I shall continue to do the job to the best of my ability for the millions of people who just want to watch a Saturday night show with their family, to see glorious baubles, bangles and beads, lights, camera, action. 

#So no, the show is not tainted, it’s going from strength to strength, and I feel sorry for the people who try to drag it down.’

Given that extra shows have been added to the tour due to heavy demand, it seems the public have voted in Strictly’s favour. So Shirley’s heading off round the country with her friend George. ‘He drives me everywhere. He’s like my mini-bodyguard.’

That seems sensible, considering that a man who stalked her for six years was given a suspended prison sentence in April. But that awful experience has not put her off meeting the true fans. 

‘Sometimes they get there at four in the morning and stand outside in the cold. Their hands are freezing. They’re shouting my name and all they want is a cuddle and a couple of seconds to take a picture. I think that’s fantastic.’

She is genuinely looking forward to this. ‘I don’t have to do my own washing because my mother does it for me. I’m a very lucky girl. Hair and make-up is all taken care of. I do get some private time wherever we go. 

‘So it’s a little bit of a holiday for me and a chance to meet and greet. I love every minute of it.’

Strictly Come Dancing The Live Tour, 23 January-15 February. Tickets: strictlycomedancinglive.com.