NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS!

When she was asked to be on to the Strictly judging panel, Shirley was 56. She recalls: ‘I was speechless. But for all sorts of reasons — including getting another woman up there — I wanted to do it.’ She adds: ‘You have to have a steel spine, darling. You won’t last five minutes in this kind of industry if you don’t.’

The most famous expression of her ethos is in the 1946 musical Annie Get Your Gun, when sharpshooter Annie Oakley joins Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show. her fellow performers explain the ins and outs of the ‘show must go on’ philosophy, singing There’s no Business Like Show Business.

Shirley displayed this spirit in spades in 2019, when she took to her judging seat days after having her breast implants removed. Ignoring the recommended recuperation period of six to eight weeks, Shirley admitted filming was ‘agony’. not that the audience could tell.