![Editorial use only Mandatory Credit: Photo by S Meddle/ITV/REX (10465017o) Shirley Ballas and Danny Taylor 'Lorraine' TV show, London, UK - 04 Nov 2019 Strictly judge Shirley Ballas spoke exclusively to Lorraine after undergoing an operation to remove her breast implants. Of how she?s feeling she said: ?I?m good. It?s definitely been an emotional week for sure.? On not missing the show post-surgery, she said: ?I made a commitment to the show and I wanted to see it through. I made a decision to put them in and I made the decision to take them out. She added that it is painful: ?It is and it was for the show and I chose to take minimal painkillers. Every day it will get better. About 6 to 8 weeks recuperation. I won?t [miss a show]. Speaking of having her boyfriend Danny Taylor by her side, she said: ?A lot easier for me ? with confidence. I definitely lack in self-esteem in my personal life. Not at all in my work. And I think since I met Danny that?s sort of grown now, it?s getting much clearer. I think gradually a little bit I?m getting there.?](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/PRI_204555778-c5d1-e1756546125952.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Strictly Come Dancing head judge Shirley Ballas has opened up about the painful turning point that led to the end of her six-year relationship with actor Danny Taylor.
The star admitted she knew ‘it couldn’t go on’ after he vanished on her birthday.
The 64-year-old ballroom icon, who confirmed the couple’s split in November last year, revealed that Danny’s disappearance on her special day dredged up harrowing memories of her late brother David, who died by suicide in 2003.
Speaking to The Mirror, Shirley recalled being with her mother, Audrey, 87, when she received a call to say her fiancé was missing.
‘All those memories came flooding back… it triggered all these emotions,’ she said.
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‘I will never forget that day until the day I die,’ she explained. ‘I remember looking across in the middle of the night and I saw my mother was just so upset, reliving all of her trauma. I just thought, “this can’t go on”. Not just for my sake, but my mum too.’
She spent hours desperately trying to track Danny down, calling his friends and family in the middle of the night.
At around 2am she noticed he had read her increasingly frantic messages, but no response came.
When he reappeared the following day as though nothing had happened, Shirley realised their relationship had reached its breaking point.
The couple, who first met in panto in late 2018 and got engaged in 2021, had been together for six years.
But since the breakdown of their long-term romance, Shirley has admitted her love life has been far from smooth sailing.
‘Currently, I’ve just split with my boyfriend. My relationships have been a disaster, all the way along the line,’ she told Jamie Laing on the Great Company podcast earlier this year.
‘What turns me off is a liar, somebody who says they’ll be there and isn’t. But what I am truly grateful for is that I still have my mother, and that she lives with me, and I get these precious moments with her.’
The dance champion, who has been married twice and engaged four times, has described her son Mark, 39, and her mother Audrey as the true loves of her life.
‘My mother is the only thing that’s been a staple in my life. No friend, no marriage, no nothing. All I keep saying at the end of the day is I’m blessed to have had my son, and without the journey I took, I wouldn’t have him, and then I wouldn’t have my grandson.’
Shirley’s romantic history stretches back to her teenage years: she was first engaged at 16 to ballroom partner Nigel Tiffany before marrying dancer Sammy Stopford at 19.
After four years, she left for America with Texan dancer Corky Ballas, marrying him in 1985 and welcoming son Mark the following year. Their marriage ended in 2007.
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