Shirley Ballas swaps BBC for Hollywood as Strictly's head judge lands huge movie deal

Strictly Come Dancing head judge Shirley Ballas and her son Mark Ballas will be working together on a Hollywood project

Dancing legend Shirley Ballas has secured a huge Hollywood deal working on a movie with her son Mark Ballas.

The Strictly Come Dancing head judge and her son Mark Ballas, who is known for his skills on Dancing With The Stars, will be joining forces to work on a new romantic comedy movie called The Light Fantastic, which will be filmed in the heart of ballroom in Blackpool.

Shirley and her son will be leading the choreography for the star-studded movie. BAFTA-nominated star Rupert Everett, Misfits star Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, War Horse's Jeremy Irvine and Bad Education's Layton Williams have all been confirmed as part of the star-studded cast.

The Light Fantastic follows 30-something gay firefighter Jason (played by Jeremy) dreaming of becoming a professional ballroom story. Inspired by a true story, the movie is set in Blackpool and will see him battle the tough traditions of ballroom under the close watch of his traditional instructor Reynolds (played by Rupert).

Meanwhile, in September, Shirley revealed in an interview that she could possibly face back surgery, but after further consultation she is aiming to put that off for as long as possible. The Strictly head judge, 64, said: "I've got this disorder in my spine, degenerative spine which I haven't really talked about with anybody yet. But it is three types of operation. And I don't want to do the operations so I am doing anti-inflammatory.

"So I am trying to do more juicing I am doing ice bathing. Oh yeah I have got a brass monkey ice bath. I can go up to about four minutes now, I have built up to in the freezing, freezing cold at 5am. I would say it really stimulates me to start my day, plus I have cut my hours down at work because I don't want any operations for as long as I possibly don't have to have any.

"It is dance related, wear and tear on an old body, on an old gal! It is just what it is, all that back bending and head flicking you see on strictly. My main job is teaching, people see me on TV but I have a full time job teaching and lecturing all over the world." She explained to Gabby Logan on the Mid Point podcast that her main focus was "100%" to stop needing the operation and she had also cut out processed food too in a bid to improve her health.

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