THE curse of Strictly Come Dancing has struck again – with Shirley Ballas splitting from her one-time fiance, The Sun can reveal.
The show’s popular Head Judge has called time on her six year relationship with actor Danny Taylor, 51, to whom she got engaged in 2021.
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News of their split comes six months after Shirley, 64, revealed the pair had called off their engagement – but were still together.
Last night a source said: “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.
“Distance also played its part – Shirley lives in :London with her mother and Danny remains based in Liverpool; that commute is a killer.
Read More on Shirley Ballas
“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.”
The couple remain friends and still follow one another on social media. They haven’t posted together, however.
The couple met in panto in 2018, appearing in Jack and the Beanstalk.
Danny, a trained ballroom dancer, has also appeared in soaps including Brookside and The Bill.
Speaking about how their romance came about, she said: “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 [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.”
In June twice-married Shirley, whose son Mark was a dancer and then a judge on the American version of Strictly, Dancing with The Stars, furiously denied suggestions the pair had split.
She insisted things are better than ever for the couple after previously admitting she had “changed her mind” about marriage after two divorces.
She said: “Danny and I are still together contrary to anything you might read. Who knows [if we’ll get married].”
Strictly Curse – The Lowdown
STRICTLY Come Dancing’s latest series has already been hit by rumours of a BBC show ‘curse’ – yet what is it?
A host of Strictly Come Dancing stars have been struck by the Strictly Curse during the past two decades.
This is where celebrities who may or may not be attached in the outside world become more than friends with their professional partners.
A total of 20 relationships are said to have been impacted so far over the show’s 20 years.
It has seen relationships crumble with dance floor romances and punishing rehearsal schedules to blame.
This includes the partnerships of Louise and Jamie Redknapp as well as Kevin Clifton and Karen Hauer.
Controversially, Judge Craig Revel Horwood once said of the curse: “I think of it as a blessing, to be honest. One person is married, the other one had a girlfriend but my point in this entire thing is: if you come on Strictly, sometimes you are in a relationship that is not working anyway.
“There has to be something wrong in your relationship before it all goes awry.”
Series one winner Brendan Cole left his fiancé, fellow Strictly professional Camilla Dallerup, during filming for the very first series in spring 2004.
Brendan was said to have fallen for his celebrity partner and inaugural winner Natasha Kaplinsky, although the duo didn’t confirm they were romantically involved.
Last night a spokeswoman for Shirley declined to comment.
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