Shirley Ballas has revealed that individuals who may not have had her best interests at heart would “pop up” to caution her new colleagues about her, including Motsi Mabuse. In her 2025 book, Best Foot Forward, Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley outlined how the dance world is “rife” with what she termed “wicked whispers” and “petty politics”.
She revealed that she came across people who questioned her abilties. Shirley even went as far as claiming that there were individuals who presumed she’d “clambered over others” to secure her success.
It appears these unidentified people failed when it came to their attempts to create division between Shirley and then-newcomer Motsi, who has become one of her “closest friends”.
She wrote: “I’m fully aware that if I’m ever about to work with anyone new, somebody will pop up to warn them: ‘Watch your back.’ Motsi Mabuse was told just that when she joined the Strictly judging panel in 2019 and I know who it was that tipped her off, too.”
She continued: “It backfired on that particular person trying to stir the pot because Motsi, whom I’ve known for 25 years, is now one of my closest friends – I love the bones of that woman.”
Shirley revealed that another person had shared that he’d been contacted by someone she had instructed.
That individual had then warned him not to “go into business” with the dancer. Shirley added that it’s “simply not true” that she’s used people or “double-crossed” them to climb the ladder, emphasising that she only learned her craft and “studied hard”.
Meanwhile, the 65-year-old judge recently spoke candidly to sports legend Gabby Logan about her romantic life on an episode of the podcast, The Mid Point, confessing that she doesn’t believe she’s “always been successful”.
She confessed: “I don’t think I’ve always been successful in relationships to be perfectly honest. I’m more the person that when I leave the earth people will remember what I helped them with.
“I don’t think I’ll be remembered for the person who had the most successful relationships.”
She then reflected on why this might be the case, explaining that she didn’t have a “fatherly figure” from the age of two.
She also revealed that he wasn’t present in her life and only became more friendly once she landed her BBC role, on which she appears alongside Motsi, Anton Du Beke, Craig Revel Horwood, Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.
Shirley continued to explain that, because of his absence, she lacked a role model to help her grasp what to anticipate in a marriage.