Strictly’s Shirley Ballas, 64, ‘splits’ from Danny Taylor, 51, after six years

Shirley Ballas has reportedly split from her boyfriend Danny Taylor.

The Strictly Come Dancing judge, 64, is said to have called time on her relationship after six years, with the pair having celebrated their engagement in 2021.

It’s claimed Shirley called off their engagement six months ago, but were still together in recent months, with a source saying they’ve now parted ways.

The insider 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.’

They added to The Sun: ‘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.’

It’s said the former couple still follow each other on social media and remain friends.

Shirley and Danny first met in late 2018, when they both starred in a festive pantomime production of Jack And The Beanstalk in Liverpool.

Since then, Shirley dropped several hints about her desire to marry Danny, revealing they’d talked about marriage and joking that if she did marry Dannyand took on the name ‘Shirley Ballas-Taylor’, she could follow in the footsteps of Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor by ‘collecting’ spouses.

Shirley has been married twice before, first to Sammy Stopford from 1980 to 1984 and then to Corky Ballas from 1985 to 2007.

The dancer also told Prima magazine in 2021 that her relationship had ‘changed my life’, adding: ‘He’s also very kind and very caring – he’s always there for me. I hope he’ll propose one day, but he’s never married and I think he’s a bit nervous about it, so we’ll see. Come on, Danny!’

Last year however, Shirley said she didn’t want to walk down the aisle again and had ‘changed her mind’ about their marriage.

‘I just feel that at this particular point in my life, my mother and I have got this great relationship and we want to do some travelling and there are different things we want to do,’ she said.

Metro has approached Shirley’s reps for comment.