Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

‘I won’t be reading any more tabloid stories!’: 10 questions for Strictly judge Shirley Ballas

Shirley Ballas (Ray Burmiston)
Shirley Ballas (Ray Burmiston)

SHIRLEY BALLAS has replaced her friend Len Goodman as head judge on BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing show.

She’s known in the dancing business as the Queen Of Latin, and she’s been entering competitions since she was eight.

Shirley is no newcomer to TV having been a judge on America’s Dancing With The Stars. She lives with her son Mark.

Were you prepared for Saturday night fame?

I must confess, that bit of the job was surprising and took a little getting used to. Put it this way, I won’t be reading any more tabloid newspaper stories.

Len Goodman (BBC, Ray Burmiston)

Were you comfortable replacing Len Goodman?

He’s my friend and I’m not trying to fill his shoes because he was iconic. I can only bring the best part of me to the show.

What style of dancing was your first love?

I initially trained in ballet, then tap, ballroom and Latin. I was best at ballroom, but at 17 I had a great partner, and Latin suddenly made sense. I started to specialise then.

Were you precocious as a young girl?

No. Far from it. I was raised by a single mother who did whatever she could so that I could go to dance classes. I just threw myself into it and worked really hard.

My mum is so proud of me as new head judge on Strictly Come Dancing, says Shirley Ballas

And is your mum still a fan of dance too?

Oh yes. She’s 80 and, at my recent birthday party, as soon as the music came on she threw off her shoes and started a jig. It was lovely to see.

Have you had enough time for relationships?

As soon as I heard the music at seven years old I was hooked. From then on the only time I have ever taken time off was when I had my son Mark. So, I’m really married to my ballroom world.

How do you switch off?

I love watching Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire movies, but rather than sit down with a DVD I’m usually out doing yoga to switch off. I’ve seen every theatre dance show there is, and I go to enjoy incredible talent not to criticise.

Are you enjoying giving out criticism?

When I started dancing my teacher was very strict so I try to be as firm on Strictly. I look for the fundamentals, making sure leg, feet and arms all have coordination. I think I am extremely fair, but I take no prisoners.

What drives you to get people to dance?

First of all it’s great exercise. It’s also a brilliant way to meet people and hear wonderful music, and everyone loves music, don’t they?

You have 24 hours left to live. How do you spend it?

I would go to the yoga studio and spend the whole 24 hours there doing exercise. Just a whole day of yoga. Can you tell I love it?