STRICTLY Come Dancing just wouldn’t be the same without head judge Shirley Ballas.
But what do we know about the dancer’s man, Danny Taylor? Here we take a look at their love story.
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Who is Danny Taylor?
Danny Taylor is an actor, known mainly for his theatre roles in the West End.
He’s had an extensive career both on stage and screen and is one of the country’s most successful theatre actors.
Like his girlfriend Shirley Ballas, he’s a trained dancer in ballroom, tap and waltz and even released an album in 2015 called The Party Is Over.
He’s also had parts in TV series The Bill and Brookside.
He has a young son with actress Sharon Byatt, who played Irenee in the sitcom Bread.
You can follow Danny on Intsagram @dannytayloresq.
How long have Danny and Shirley been together?
In January 2019, The Sun exclusively revealed that Shirley was dating Danny.
The couple met during rehearsals for Jack And The Beanstalk, which they starred in together over Christmas in 2018.
News of her new romance came just a week after she had told TV host Lorraine Kelly that she’d met “somebody nice.”
Shirley discussed how they first met on Loose Women: “We met on panto as friends. It didn’t really take off until March… for him. I fell in love way before… I think for me it was first sight,” she said.
Strictly’s Shirley Ballas shows off her incredible figure in black swimsuit as she jumps in the sea
“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.”
Shirley also said Danny was “the one”.
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Who is Shirley Ballas?
Shirley Ballas is a British ballroom dancer who specialises in Latin dance and has won several championships earning her the nickname, The Queen of Latin.
She grew up in Wallasey in the North of England with her mother Audrey and brother David.
Her love of ballroom dance started aged seven when she took her first class in her local hall.
The talented youngster then started competing in competitions from the age of eight and, at 15 she moved to North Yorkshire to compete with British Ballroom Champion Nigel Tiffany.
They got engaged when she was 16 and a year later they moved to London.
However, she was then asked to try out to be Sammy Stopford’s partner, they fell in love and got married and went on to become one of the fastest rising couples in ballroom dance.
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They danced together from when she was 18 to 23 and won all the major titles worldwide.
The pair then parted ways and she met Corky Ballas, who she married and had son Mark with in 1986.
Corky and Shirley competed together and won their first professional Latin title in 1984 and went on to win it a further eight years in a row.
In 1990, they moved back to the UK and went on to win the Open British Professional Latin title in 1995 and ’96.
They divorced in 2007.
Shirley was previously a judge on the American version of Dancing With The Stars.
Who’s confirmed for Strictly 2024?
WITH Strictly’s 20th anniversary special airing in September, The Sun takes a look at which celebs have been confirmed for the new series:
