Strictly Come Dancing’s Shirley Ballas has shared her new TV role away from the ballroom. Although it feels like we have only just said goodbye to the 2024 contestants, a fresh batch of celebrities will be getting glitz and glam ready for the ballroom in just a few months time.
Claudia Winkleman will return as co-host for the 2025 series alongside Tess Daly. Craig Revel Horwood, Shirley Ballas, Anton DuBeke and Motsi Mabuse will be dusting off their numbers as part of the iconic judging panel.
Shirley has been the head judge on Strictly since 2017 following a successful dance career around the world. The 64-year-old is known as the “Queen of Latin” due to her specialism in the Latin division of dancing. She moved to West Yorkshire aged 15, having previously grown up in the Wirral area.
The TV judge recently appeared on ITV’s This Morning to let viewers know she will be taking on another judging role, which has links to the legendary Coronation Street cobbles.
Shirley chatted to hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley as they announced her new role as part of the This Morning’s mission to find the next dog star to appear on Coronation Street.
This Morning are launching “Pup Idol” which aims to find some of the UK’s most talented dogs. Viewers are being offered the chance to nominate their dogs for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to win a role on hit soap Coronation Street.
Strictly Come Dancing’s Shirley Ballas will be one of the Pup Idol judges. She brought her own dog Charlie along and spoke to Ben and Cat about her new role.
She explained: “He’s a rescue… and he was going to get euthanised. He was very tiny, he’d broken his hips and everything so we just decided that we would take him and he has been really, really good.”
Discussing her role as a Pup Idol judge and what they’ll be looking out for, she said: “We’ll be looking for the best little pup in Great Britain, so I’m very excited about that and would like to see that we have some obedience, because Charlie is very, very obedient.
“Good behaviour, we’re looking for something with really good temperament, loving, kind, caring. Well groomed… And not easily distracted on TV sets, and maybe some good little tricks would be nice.”
Shirley will be joined by vet Dr Scott Miller and Coronation Street actress Jodie Prenger (Glenda Shuttleworth) on the Pup Idol judging panel as they search for Weatherfield’s next top dog.
Sharing a message from the cobbles, Jodie told viewers: “Good morning and welcome to Coronation Street. From Schmeichel to David [and] Eccles, many paws have graced these famous cobbles and they’ve probably cocked their legs on a few lampposts as well.
“Your furry friend could be joining that illustrious list. I am so excited to be part of the judging panel that will be putting the pups through their paces to see who will win the walk on part, in the nation’s longest running soap.
“So if you think your pooch should play the part, then what are you waiting for? And who knows, you could be watching your four-legged furry friend make their television debut.”
Jodie also caught up with Coronation Street’s Assistant Director, who shared her advice for any pet owners hoping their dog will be the next soap superstar: “They need a bit of star quality. They need to be as cute as a button because they’re going to be on screen.
“We’ve had [a dog] once poop on set, someone nearly stood in it, so they need to be well trained and maybe puppy dog eyes, they need to engage the audience – and if they can do any tricks, well that’s just an extra!”
Nominations are open now and This Morning will host live finals in the studio in September, before the next pup-star to appear on the Corrie cobbles is selected by public vote.
While on the This Morning sofa, Shirley also opened up about the next series of Strictly and revealed: “What I can tell you is, we have two fabulous professionals coming and joining the show.
“They are amazing really. We’ve got some little changes there that you’re going to be really surprised about, every year they make those few little changes and it’s really, really, really amazing. We’ve got a cast – I know I say it every year – but we’ve got a cast of all casts, it’s really going to be absolutely off the charts.”