Strictly’s Shirley on over-50s dating
Star Shirley admits dating in her 50s can be tricky
Strictly judge Shirley Ballas has revealed how she has quickstepped from dance to romance.
She is joining This Morning to help a group of six over-50s find love.
And Shirley, 58, knows all about the trials of finding later-life romance, admitting: “I’m hopeless, hopeless, hopeless! I never get it right.”
She says that seeking love again at her age was difficult.
It’s three years since Merseyside-born Shirley has been on the dating scene, having tried an upmarket Los Angeles matchmaking company only to find the men on it were looking for someone younger.
She says filming for Matchmaker Mountain was a reaffirmation that many others were in a similar situation.
“I think people are firstly going to be enthralled that people over 50 are looking for love,” said Shirley.
“When I went on this trip I was a little bit sceptical because I’ve been single a long time.
“But, actually, it renewed my faith that there are lots of men and women out there, like myself, and there was no need to be nervous.” Shirley has been married twice, to former dance partners Sammy Stopford and Corky Ballas, and was engaged at just 16 to Nigel Tiffany, who went on to become her financial advisor.
She was with Ballas for more than 20 years and their son Mark is a dancer on US hit Dancing With The Stars.
Shirley also had a long-term relationship with Russian dancer Yegor Novikov, 26 years her junior, but has said she’d be looking for someone of a similar age to herself.
Shirley is joined by three men and three women at a luxurious mountain retreat in Morocco, deciding who to partner up with. She helps to guide them on their dates and shares her own experiences too.
“I met three amazing women and men who I will remain friends with forever,” said Shirley, who will be in Glasgow at the start of next month with the rest of the Strictly judges and celebrities for the live tour.
“There were lots of surprises, heartache, love, pain, sharing … every possible emotion that you could imagine is in this show. There was shyness to begin with and you see that wear off, then there were tears when someone liked somebody but it didn’t quite happen.” And Shirley has her own essential wish list for someone she’d meet on a first date. “Somebody who goes into the date willingly and openly, and not with expectations,” she adds.
Matchmaker Mountain starts on This Morning on Tuesday, ITV.