Shirley Ballas has shared her anguish after separating from her partner, revealing that she has struggled with a "tough day".
Strictly Come Dancing's lead judge, 64, has ended her relationship with her long-term love Danny Taylor - just three years after celebrating their engagement in 2021. Insiders claim that Shirley made the difficult decision to split, despite publicly praising her partner over the years.
After the news broke, the dancing legend shared a screenshot of a FaceTime call with her friend musician Alan Grundy, the Mirror reports. Taking to Instagram, Shirley wrote: "When you have had a tough day and you see this smile @grundyalan you can hopefully sleep. My friend for many years."
The image shows Shirley's friend smiling at her from the car, while the dancer is talking to him from her bed.
The shocking news of the split comes six months after Shirley, 64, revealed that she and Danny, 51, had cancelled their wedding, although they continued to be in a relationship.
The pair first met in 2018 while starring in pantomime in Jack and the Beanstalk together. Shirley quickly fell for Danny, who was also a trained ballroom dancer, and he later returned her affections. The Strictly star admitted that their romance was initially one-sided, taking time to develop into a solid relationship.
She said: "I think for me it was [at] first sight. He was going through a difficult time in his relationship. We did become friends and then probably in about February I said, 'I love you Danny' and he said, 'I know'. It took a while."
Speaking of the split, a source told The Sun: "As with any break-up, it is, of course, a very sad situation. She gave her all to that relationship and in the end came to the realisation that it wasn't going anywhere. She made a lot of effort to see Danny and support his theatre and panto work, travelling up and down the country."
The insider continued: "Distance also played its part - Shirley lives in London with her mother and Danny remains based in Liverpool; that commute is a killer. But Shirley is a strong, resilient character and is looking better than ever. She will 100% bounce back - 2025 promises to be an absolute corker for her."
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