And she heartbreakingly confesses in the book how she showered him with gifts \u201cthinking that\u2019s how I should show him I loved him.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a result, he had the \u201cbest of the best\u201d including tailor-made clothes, Gucci shoes, Mont Blanc cufflinks, gorgeous holidays, and a Mini Coup\u00e9. She even hired him as her PA during Covid as he wasn\u2019t earning a living.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe weren\u2019t growing together anymore, and I was getting more and more worried about things that were going on in his life, and I already have a lot of things to worry about,\u201d she says. \u201cI just needed some peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shirley also admits she\u2019s not keen to rush into another relationship, if at all. She has been married twice before. She tied the knot with her dance partner Sammy Stopford in 1980 but divorced after four years. Then there was a fiery marriage to another dancer Corky Ballas<\/a> with whom she has a son, Mark.<\/p>\n It ended in 2007 amid allegations of infidelity. At 16, she was also briefly engaged to her first dance partner, Nigel Tiffany, who she remains friends with to this day.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever have another relationship, but if I did, it would have to be with somebody that was much more calm and saw us growing in the same direction,\u201d she says. \u201cBut that doesn\u2019t mean that those six years I had with Danny, I didn\u2019t adore him. I just didn\u2019t really have a choice.\u201d<\/p>\n In the meantime she has been getting used to being on her own again, but admits in the book how she feels \u201cincomplete and a little lost.\u201d Such experiences have only crystallised her belief that nothing is forever although she jokes that she is thinking about joining dating app Raya.<\/p>\n \u201cI think my \u2018toyboy\u2019 days are behind me. I reckon anything from 55 to 70 if they\u2019re fit,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n Her and Danny, who is 13 years younger, had met while doing panto together in 2018. The TV star, who had been single for four and a half years, was playing Mother Nature and Danny was evil Fleshcreep in Jack And The Beanstalk in Liverpool. She admits she quickly fell head over heels for him, with the pair getting engaged in 2021. She had even bought the wedding rings.<\/p>\n Shirley also opens up about the exact moment when her world<\/a> came crashing down. Cuddling up in bed with her 87-year-old mum Audrey at 9pm on the day of her 64th birthday, her phone suddenly lit up.<\/p>\n It was a relative of her fiance Danny Taylor<\/a> telling her that he\u2019d gone missing, his phone was off and his family were very worried about him. Suddenly she was engulfed by the harrowing thoughts of her brother David who had tragically taken his own life<\/a>, in 2003, aged 44.<\/p>\n \u201cAll those memories came flooding back\u2026it triggered all these emotions,\u201d she says in the interview. Her number was passed to the police who were also concerned about the circumstances, and she spent the next few hours frantically trying to track Danny down, calling around all his friends and family.<\/p>\n At 2am, she noticed that her Whatsapps to Danny had been read. But relief turned to anger as Danny reappeared the next day and carried on as if nothing had happened. Almost immediately she realised that she couldn\u2019t have someone in her life who could cause her such agony again.<\/p>\n \u201cI will never forget that day until the day I die. I remember looking across in the middle of the night and I saw my mother was just so upset, reliving all of her trauma,\u201d she says. \u201cI just thought \u2018this can\u2019t go on\u2019. Not just for my sake, but my mum too.\u201d<\/p>\n BEST FOOT FORWARD by SHIRLEY BALLAS, published by BBC Books on 11th September at \u00a322 Copyright \u00a9 Shirley Ballas 2025<\/p>\n![\"Shirley](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/3_Shoot-to-Promote-new-Autobiography.jpg\")
Stunning: Shirley Ballas opens up (Image: Reach PLC \/ Matt Monfredi)<\/p>\n![\"Shirley](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_Barclaycard-Presents-British-Summer-Time-Hyde-Park-Day-2.jpg\")
Shirley Ballas with her ex Danny(Image: Getty Images for Barclaycard Presents British Summer Time)<\/p>\n![\"Shirley](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_Lorraine-TV-show-London-UK-04-Nov-2019.jpg\")
Shirley and Danny met while doing panto(Image: S Meddle\/ITV\/REX)<\/p>\n![\"Shirley](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1_9781785949784.jpg\")
Gripping: Shirley’s new book <\/p>\n