The Strictly judge has opened up about the moment she knew she had to end her engagement to her toyboy.
Daniel Taylor and Shirley Ballas attend the Pride of Britain Awards at Grosvenor House on October 24, 2022 (Image: 2022 Dave J Hogan)
Shirley Ballas has recalled the moment her world fell apart. Snuggled up in bed with her 87-year-old mum Audrey at 9pm on her 64th birthday, her mobile suddenly blazed to life.
A family member of her fiancé Danny Taylor was on the line, explaining he’d vanished, his phone was switched off and his loved ones were deeply concerned about him.
In an instant, she was overwhelmed by the devastating memories of her brother David, who had heartbreakingly ended his own life in 2003 at just 44.
“All those memories came flooding back… it triggered all these emotions,” she quietly told the Mirror.
The police, who were equally troubled by the situation, were given her contact details, and she spent the following hours desperately attempting to locate Danny, ringing round all his mates and relatives.
Shirley Ballas remembers the exact moment when her world came crashing down(Image: Reach PLC / Matt Monfredi)
At 2am, she spotted that her WhatsApp messages to Danny had been opened. However, relief quickly transformed into fury as Danny emerged the following day, behaving as though nothing whatsoever had occurred.
Almost instantly, she recognised that she couldn’t tolerate someone in her life who could inflict such torment upon her once more.
“I 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,” she says.
“I just thought ‘this can’t go on’. Not just for my sake, but my mum too.”
Strictly Come Dancing star Shirley spoke candidly as she gears up to launch her remarkable new memoir, Best Foot Forward. Chatting with the star, it’s evident her birthday evening has left a lasting impression.
Shirley Ballas and Daniel Taylor, now split up, attend an awards do in London in July 2022(Image: Getty Images)
“I still loved him but I thought this is something I can’t continue to be a part of,” Shirley explains. “It’s all very sad.”
She and Danny, who is 13 years her junior, had first crossed paths whilst performing in pantomime together back in 2018.
The television personality, who had remained unattached for four and a half years, was playing Mother Nature whilst Danny took on the role of wicked Fleshcreep in Jack And The Beanstalk in Liverpool.
She confesses she rapidly became smitten with him, with the couple becoming engaged in 2021.
She had even purchased the wedding bands.
Shirley is opening up to the Mirror as she prepares to release her incredible new memoir, Best Foot Forward(Image: Reach PLC / Matt Monfredi)
“There was no question about how much I loved that man,” she said. “And he came into my life at a point when I really, really needed it and he was such a caring person.
“But… along the line, there were red flags that I chose to ignore, but it just got to a point where the relationship was becoming too difficult for me in many ways.”
Shirley reveals that Danny was a “drifter by nature” and if they experienced a disagreement or conversation that became somewhat intense, they wouldn’t speak for days.
It was, she notes, not dissimilar to her father who would frequently disappear during her youth. Things that she once found charming, such as his unpredictable train arrival times or showing up at her doorstep with a disorganised suitcase, soon started to annoy her.
In her book, she discusses how she lavished him with gifts “thinking that’s how I should show him I loved him.”
As a result, he enjoyed the “best of the best”, including bespoke clothing, Gucci shoes, Mont Blanc cufflinks, luxurious holidays, and a Mini Coupé. During the Covid pandemic, she even employed him as her personal assistant since he wasn’t earning.
“We weren’t growing together anymore, and I was becoming increasingly concerned about aspects of his life, and I already have plenty to worry about,” she admits. “I just needed some peace.”
Shirley and Danny, who is 13 years younger, had met while doing panto together in 2018(Image: Reach PLC / Matt Monfredi)
After their break up following that ill-fated night, communication between them has been minimal. They occasionally exchange text messages, but it seems Shirley has been carrying most of the burden in this regard.
“We still haven’t seen each other face to face since that night, which I’ve asked for many times,” she reveals. “I’m a person who needs closure, and it’s just never closed. I always think it’s nice to sit in a room, because when people write text messages, you don’t really know the tone.”
Shirley candidly admits she’s not in a hurry to dive into another relationship, if at all. She has walked down the aisle twice before.
Her first marriage was with her dance partner Sammy Stopford in 1980, but it ended after four years. Then came a tumultuous marriage to another dancer, Corky Ballas, with whom she shares a son, Mark.
The marriage concluded in 2007 amidst accusations of unfaithfulness. At the tender age of 16, she was briefly betrothed to her first dance partner, Nigel Tiffany, who remains a close friend to this day.
“I don’t think I’ll 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,” she states. “But that doesn’t mean that those six years I had with Danny, I didn’t adore him. I just didn’t really have a choice.”
The pair got engaged in 2021(Image: Getty)
In the interim, she has been adjusting to life on her own again, but confesses in her book how she feels “incomplete and a little lost.”
Such experiences have only solidified her belief that nothing lasts forever, although she jests about considering joining dating app Raya.
“I think my ‘toyboy’ days are behind me. I reckon anything from 55 to 70 if they’re fit,” she adds. It’s evident that the loves of her life now are very much her son, Mark, 38, and mum, Audrey.
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The latter moved in with Shirley in her south-east London home in 2021, shortly after being diagnosed with cancer. She’s always been by her daughter’s side.
“I decided to get engaged at 16, and she was not sure about that. Then I got married at 19, so I think I was a constant pain in her butt throughout all those years,” she laughs. “And then, of course, I ran off to America to be with Corky and left my first husband……and then, of course, I got pregnant in the middle of my career.
“I remember calling her and saying, ‘you know what, Mum, I’m pregnant‘ and she couldn’t believe it. So she’s very much seen it all.”