Strictly’s Shirley Ballas secretly nursing sick mum through cancer fight
STRICTLY's head judge Shirley Ballas has opened up about her mother's heartbreaking cancer diagnosis.
Her beloved mum Audrey, 81, was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year and the 58-year-old ballroom dancer has been secretly nursing her.
Shirley revealed Audrey has decided not to have chemotherapy and she supports her decision.
She told the : “She was diagnosed earlier this year. But she’s a trouper and we are dealing with it.
“I came over to her in the summer to take care of her and I had to learn to be a nurse."
Taking over her mum's care means cooking for her, a task which she is learning to love.
She added: "I would put her food down on a tray on her bed and I would be standing there like, ‘Is this okay?’
“And she would say, ‘You did good. Maybe a bit more salt next time’.”
She went on: “I did good. I cooked for her, did all the washing, cleaning and her injections.
“I’d make things like mashed potato and salmon but no other vegetables. She couldn’t have anything green. And I wasn’t sure I was going to be any good because I’m a terrible cook.
“I tried to boil an egg once and it blew up and hit the ceiling!”
The star has suffered family trauma in the past when Shirley’s brother David took his own life aged 44 after suffering with depression.
She goes on: “It was in the Christmas period that David died so as we run up to it now I normally find my mood changing.
"No one saw it coming. My mum went to visit him for six weeks when he was low and he came down to see Mark sing in the church choir.
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"That was the day he chose to kill himself.
"When I start to feel like I’m going into a solemn place I try to just relive the good times. Fortunately I have my mum to talk to and my son is a huge confidante.
"Mum’s a star to raise two kids on her own and come through what she has. Yet she never complains or moans. I’m really blessed.”