Sammy Stopford: Last News

Strictly star Shirley Ballas won't be walking down the aisle to her fiancé Danny Taylor anytime soon after she cancelled their wedding to focus on other things.

Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas has opened up about one of the most difficult decisions she’d ever made as she discussed her turbulent love life while appearing on James Martin 's Saturday Morning show. During the show, Shirley shared a candid insight into her romances over the years, including the moment she recalled begging her first husband Sammy Stopford to take her back three months into her move to America.The 63 year old dance sensation first kicked off her story by explaining how she had started out as a professional dancer with “not a penny” to her name when she first moved to London at the tender age of just 16 with her partner, British Ballroom Champion Nigel Tiffany.

As Strictly Come Dancing enters its fifth week, Anton Du Beke, Craig Revel Horwood, Shirley Ballas, and Motsi Mabuse have returned as regulars on our screens. In 2021, the show's judging panel underwent a major transformation when former professional dancer Anton took the place of Bruno Tonioli, who had been a part of the show since its inception in 2004. While we are all familiar with the judges on screen, here’s a closer look at their love lives off screen.

STRICTLY Come Dancing's Shirley Ballas left fans in tears with her emotional tribute to her mum as she revealed her rags-to-riches story. Her fans flocked to Twitter to comment on the head judge's epic life journey which she told on Strictly spin-off show It Takes Two. Shirley stunned fans as she told how she grew up in a council estate just outside of Liverpool with her mum and brother.

Prima magazine, the 61-year-old, who describes her man as “very kind” and “caring,” gushed: “He’s always there for me. I hope he’ll propose one day, but he’s never married and I think he’s a bit nervous about it, so we’ll see.

Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas admitted that Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice's Viennese Waltz to Fallin' by Alicia Keys reminded her of her past husbands. During the judges' feedback on Saturday's show, Shirley, 61, admitted it was like watching her "own life story" while co-judge Craig Revel Horwood teased her about her autobiography Behind the Sequins: My Life.The head judge has been married twice before with her first husband being Sammy Stopford, she then married Corky Ballas in 1985 with the two splitting in 2003 and divorcing in 2007.They share son Mark, 35.

Shirley Ballas is ready to marry her boyfriend Danny Taylor. The 60-year-old ballroom dancer has been dating Danny, 48, for the last two years, and after growing closer during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown, he's suggested they could soon walk down the aisle.

Shirley Ballas first joined the judging panel in 2017. However, three years on Shirley has spoken out on the online trolling she has received while appearing on the show.