THE TIME OF HER LIFE . . .

The 1987 film Dirty Dancing — later a stage musical — made a star of Patrick Swayze. he played Johnny, a dance instructor at a holiday resort, who falls in love with Baby, one of the guests. The climax is the end-of-season talent show at which Johnny and Baby dance to (I’ve had) The Time Of My Life, complete with that lift.

Shirley was the dance instructor and Corky Ballas her pupil when they fell in love. She says: ‘I was 23 and married when I left Sammy. The whole dance world was scandalised. Lots of people were horrified. All I can say is that I was incredibly young and I found myself at a crossroads.’

Corky’s account is: ‘Shirley would always flirt when Sammy wasn’t around. One day before training I came in an hour early to warm up. I was doing push-ups. I’ll never forget, she came over and whispered in my ear, “Would you like me to get underneath you?” They had an eight-year run as U.S. Latin champions and married in 1985, divorcing in 2007.