Who is Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas?

SHIRLEY Ballas has become a firm favourite on BBC's Strictly Come Dancing as head judge.

But before taking over from the late Len Goodman, she was known as The Queen of Latin.

Who is Shirley Ballas?

Born Shirley Annette Rich in Wallasey on September 6, 1960, Shirley Ballas is a ballrrom dancer and teacher.

The star caught the dancing fever from a young age when she began dancing at age 7, and started performing competitively the following years.

At 15, she moved to North Yorkshire to partner British Ballroom Champion Nigel Tiffany.

As dance partners, they won Professional Latin at Blackpool Dance Festival in 1983.

Shirley stopped competing in dance competitions in 1996.

After this time she became a dance coach, and judge for ballroom and Latin American competitions.

Is Shirley Ballas married?

Shirley was married to Corky Ballas, who she wed back in 1985, and shares a son with.

But they split when he left her for former Strictly pro Kristina Rihanoff after he became the dancer's teacher in 2003.

She divorced Corky in 2007 but his relationship with Kristina reportedly fizzled out the following year.

Shirley is now dating Daniel Taylor - who is 12 years her junior.

She has been dating the theatre star since 2019 after they worked together in a pantomime production of Jack And The Beanstalk.

Shirley has actually been married twice, as she was wed to fellow dancer Sammy Stopford from 1980 to 1984.

What is Shirley Ballas' rise to fame?

After her time with Nigel Tiffany, Shirley moved on to become Sammy Stopford's partner.

The pair fell in love and got married and went on to become one of the fastest rising couples in ballroom dance.

They danced together from when she was 18 to 23 and won all the major titles worldwide.

The pair then parted ways and she met Corky Ballas

Corky and Shirley competed together and won their first professional Latin title in 1984 and went on to win it a further eight years in a row.

In 1990, they moved back to the UK and went on to win the Open British Professional Latin title in 1995 and '96.

Shirley was previously a judge on the American version of Dancing With The Stars.

She has been head judge on Strictly Come Dancing since 2017.