'Held him in my arms!' Strictly's Shirley Ballas shares heartfelt admission about son Mark

express.co.uk:

Shirley Ballas, 62, opened up about her close relationship with her son Mark Ballas, 36, in an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk.The Strictly Come Dancing judge has found it hard to spend time with her son over the past couple of years as he lives out in the US.Speaking at the Pride of Britain Awards last month, Shirley became emotional as she discussed her son Mark.

Asked what she was “most proud of” from the past year, the BBC judge answered with a touching tribute to her son. “My proudest achievement this year was that I got to fly to the United States and hold my son in my arms after three years of not seeing him. “That is the proudest moment that I have had this year,” the star admitted with emotion.

Shirley’s son Mark, whom she shares with second ex-husband Corky Ballas, is an American dancer, choreographer, singer-songwriter, musician and actor.Following in his mother’s footsteps, Mark is a professional ballroom dancer on Dancing with the Stars, which is the American equivalent of Strictly Come Dancing.Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Shirley had been restricted from seeing her son Mark for a long time.

Strictly’s head judge seemed on the verge of tears last December when Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab announced the government "couldn't make hard, fast guarantees" that there would not be a Christmas lockdown.Shirley shared a picture of herself hugging her son, as well as a long video where she unpacked how she was feeling at the prospect of a Christmas without him, admitting: “Yeah, so a little bit of an emotional day today, you know. “So we’re not sure - is there a lockdown?