EXCLUSIVE: Shirley Ballas reveals she’s lost 9 pounds in just seven days ahead of new series of Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly head judge Shirley Ballas has revealed she’s lost 9 pounds in just seven days ahead of the new series of Strictly Come Dancing – thanks to a boot camp-like regimen.
Ms Ballas, 62, who returns to the BBC show next month, has told how she spent a week at Jason Vale’s luxury juice retreat in Portugal – a favorite among celebrities including This Morning’s Alison Hammond – and was put to the test in spin and yoga classes, as well as kickstarting each morning with a two-hour walk.
Ms Ballas told MailOnline: ‘I’ve lost 9 pounds. Yoga is definitely something I’ll be sticking with throughout the Strictly series. I also cleaned my system, I do bowel irrigation, I get up at 5 every morning.
“I wasn’t there to sunbathe, I was there to take every spin class, hiking for two hours on hills that would get my heart rate close to 179, that’s how high we went.”
“It was a tough, tough week of hard work, but I came back feeling rejuvenated.”
Strictly head judge Shirley Ballas has revealed she’s lost 9 pounds in just seven days ahead of the new series of Strictly Come Dancing – thanks to a boot camp regimen
Ms Ballas has shared how she spent a week at a luxury juice retreat in Portugal – a favorite among celebrities including Alison Hammond – and was put to the test in spin and yoga classes
As part of her pre-show “cleanse,” Shirley has also undergone bowel irrigation and says she plans to continue doing yoga during the new series of Strictly
Ms. Ballas has suffered a huge amount of trolling since she took over from the late Len Goodman as Strictly’s chief judge in 2017.
The ballroom dancer has now hired a trained social media executive to stamp out hate speech after she was subjected to vicious abuse during the last two Strictly series.
Ms Ballas said: ‘I feel better prepared going into series seven than I have in any other series.
“I have a new social media manager named Harry who is a university mathematician, so he teaches math for a living, but he has taken a year off.
“He’s very adept at social media, so he’ll filter everything.
“We will work with my son, who will also be helping from the US. Hopefully I’ll take it a bit easier this year.’
Known for its glamour, sparkle and sequins, Strictly returns next month with 15 new celebs all desperate to impress the Queen of Latin.
And Mrs. Ballas reveals that she already has 32 dazzling outfits ready, but unlike dancing, she doesn’t like to get involved behind the scenes.
Ms Ballas reveals she already has 32 dazzling outfits waiting for her ahead of new Strictly Come Dancing series
Shirley, who has previously been married twice, called off her engagement to stage actor boyfriend Danny Taylor earlier this year
She said, “I have a dresser named Alexandria and she does all 32 outfits for me at the start of the run and then I rely on her.
“I don’t mess with hair and makeup, and I don’t mess with clothes, because they’re the professionals and they know best.”
Ms Ballas, who has been married twice before, called off her engagement to stage actor boyfriend Danny Taylor earlier this year, simply stating in June that she had ‘changed her mind’.
As a result of their hectic careers, she admits she hasn’t seen Danny in “months,” but the couple are still “happy” and “talk every day.”
Despite the distance between them, Danny has backed Shirley on her daredevil challenge this week, which saw the dancer ride the fastest zipline in the world, do a 220m wing walk and skydive 4,000m.
In support of the CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) charity, for which Shirley is an ambassador, the TV star is raising money in honor of her brother who committed suicide in 2003 at the age of 44.