Shirley Ballas 'nearly quit Strictly' as head judge after 'stress of overnight fame'

Shirley Ballas, who joined the Strictly Come Dancing judging panel as the head judge in 2017, debated not returning after just one year on the show.

While she eventually opted to stay on the show, it was a challenging decision after realising the extent of the fame she would be dealing with.

The 61-year-old replaced Len Goodman in 2017, who left the show after 14 series because it was “time to hand the role of head judge to someone else”, which ultimately saw Shirley join.

However, it was almost over as quickly as it began, with Shirley confessing to The Sun that she asked her mum whether she should return.

Shirley said the fame of Strictly has been “hard to deal with”, adding that it’s vital to be resilient when people say unkind things.

The famous judge said: “When the producers asked me back for a second go, I asked my mother if she thought it was a good idea. It is invasive on your private life but, eventually, we decided it would be ok to do it again.”

Shirley didn’t have any TV experience when she applied for the show, but she was adamant to make a stand against bullying in dancing.

She truly has made a stand as the lead judge on the panel, and she hasn’t looked back for a second since she returned in 2018.

The dancing mogul is now on her fifth year of Strictly, but prior to her TV debut she was focusing on her own dancing career which saw her specialise in the International Latin division.

Shirley, who has earned herself the nickname The Queen of Latin, has now had multiple TV appearances since her debut on the dancing show and remains a popular judge on the panel.

The panel has had a slight shake-up this year because of Covid-19 travel restrictions, meaning Bruno Tonioli had to step down this year.

Instead, the judging panel will comprise of Craig Ravel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas and Anton Du Beke.

Anton, who would usually be dancing in the show instead of judging it, said he is “thrilled” to be stepping into “Bruno’s brogues” for the next series.

He has already made his judging debut, with the series being weeks into the new run already.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk