Shirley Ballas
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Shirley Ballas, born as Shirley Annette Rich and known as The Queen of Latin, is an English dancer, instructor, and adjudicator who was born on September 6, 1960, in Wallasey. She began dancing at just 7 years old and started competing the following year. By the time she was 15 years old, she partnered with Nigel Tiffany, a British Ballroom Champion. The partnership ended two years later when she was selected to partner with professional ballroom dancer Sammy Stopford. Together, they ended up winning Professional in the 1983 Latin at Blackpool Dance Festival. Two years later she married and partnered with Corky Ballas, with whom she won Professional Latin at Blackpool Dance Festival in both 1995 and 1996. She stopped competing professionally in 1996 to start working as a dance judge and dance coach at Latin American Competitions. In 2017 she became a judge at the tv reality show “Strictly Come Dancing”. She also participated in other reality shows, including “Dancing with the Stars” and “Taskmaster” in 2021, which she ended up winning.