Shirley Ballas revealed she suffered a scary fall as she shared a health update with fans on Instagram on Saturday – just hours after posting a racy lingerie snap.
The Strictly Come Dancing judge, 65, told followers she fell backwards and hit her head on a glass dressing table, prompting a hospital visit for a precautionary brain scan.
She wrote: ‘Thank you to all who reached out to see how I’m doing. Scary fall backwards hitting my head on the glass dressing table. Trip to hospital to get a brain scan.
‘Fortunately for me no cracked skull. I’ll rest a few days to heel my neck and back.
‘Hugs thank you to @barabara_mccoll for getting my emergency appointment and to Sammy Stopford for taking me, and sitting with me all day. Gratitute as the Dr said I was very lucky.’
It comes after Shirley recently confirmed she is back on the dating scene and ‘looking for somebody with intellect’.
Shirley Ballas revealed she suffered a scary fall as she shared a health update with fans on Instagram on Saturday – just hours after posting a racy lingerie snap
The Strictly Come Dancing judge, 65, told followers she fell backwards and hit her head on a glass dressing table, prompting a hospital visit for a precautionary brain scan
‘I may have had a date or two,’ admitted 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, adding: ‘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 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 said. ‘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.
It comes after Shirley confirmed she is back on the dating scene and has been on ‘a date or two’ after splitting with her boyfriend Danny Taylor just over a year ago
Shirley met Danny while they worked on the same pantomime in 2016, but she confirmed the end of their relationship last year
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
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 said
‘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.’
