Self-proclaimed “health freak” and BBC One Strictly Come Dancing head judge Shirley Ballas says that cold water therapy, eating clean and, most importantly, dance, have helped her stay fit and healthy well into her 60s.
“I drink a lot of water, I have ice baths and freezing cold showers. I don’t think I’ve been in a warm shower for years,” says the 65-year-old former professional dancer, known as the ‘Queen of Latin’.
“I keep myself healthy with what I eat. I don’t eat anything that has junk in it, and I read every label. I think that if you’ve got to read the label, it’s not going to be good for you. I’m a little bit of a health freak.
“Everybody’s now gone on all these [weight-loss] jabs, but nobody knows what the outcome of that’s going to be. So, I believe the right way is to keep your weight in check. But that’s me, and everybody’s entitled to their opinion.
“That doesn’t mean that I won’t have a teaspoon of my mum’s trifle now and again, but I don’t indulge in junk. So, if I die of something it was meant to be, but I’m certainly not contributing towards it.
“I will die of dancing, in my dance shoes.”
The Wallasey-born dance teacher’s longstanding passion for dancing shows no signs of fading.
“Dance gets your heart rate up and uses every muscle that you have in the body, so it’s great for your fitness,” says Ballas.
“I just think it’s great for all-round fitness.
“I dance every day and want to do that for as long as I possibly can.”
She lives in south-east London with her 88-year-old mother Audrey Rich who often raises an eyebrow at Ballas’ thorough health regime.
“My mum thinks I’m over the top with my health. She doesn’t do cold showers, and wouldn’t get in a cold bath,” shares Ballas.
“She likes a roast dinner and that is proper food to her. So, it’s difficult, but I navigate that between her and I, because I like her to keep comfortable. I don’t argue with her. She does that, I do this, and we meet somewhere in the middle.”
Rich was diagnosed with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) in 2022.
“In 2018 she had bowel cancer, and I noticed then that her breathing wasn’t great. She was constantly getting sick,” shares Ballas.
“It took until 2022 for her to go to the doctor and get diagnosed. We had to drag her there, she didn’t want to go.
“I had never heard of COPD before, even though my mother’s mother had asthma and her father had emphysema. To even say chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has taken me nearly a year because it’s quite a mouthful.”
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is the name for a group of lung conditions that includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema, according the Asthma and Lung UK.
The charity’s website explains that COPD makes it harder to move air in and out of your lungs, so you can get breathless.
With respiratory diseases like COPD, Ballas highlights how looks can often be deceiving.
“I recently took a photograph of my mother and she looks stunning. She looks like the picture of health,” says Ballas.
“She looks like she’s 75, not nearly 90, which just shows how somebody who looks completely well can actually be really suffering.
“My mum knows she’s never going to get better from this. It’s only going to get worse.”
Sarah Sleet, CEO of the charity Asthma and Lung UK, highlights how many people overlook their lung health.
“COPD is a killer, and yet we just don’t treat it with the seriousness that it deserves,” says Sleet.
“Lung health is central to all of our health, and yet we overlook it.
“We think about our heart, we think about our brain, but we don’t think enough about our lungs.”
Ballas says her mum’s diagnosis has made her extra vigilant about her surroundings.
“I don’t smoke, I don’t believe in vapes and I’m really careful about the environments I go around,” says Ballas.
“As my mum’s carer, which I now tell her I am, I have to be vigilant about how long she’s out and have to always think about if there’s a chair for her to sit on.
“I’m always doing her hands with disinfectant, which she hates, and bring a mask for her when we go out, which she also hates.”
In moments of tensions and chaos, in her busy career and relationships, Ballas says breathing and taking a step back often helps.
“I live in a stressful situation with my ongoing teaching and dealing with the [ballroom] couples’ problems. So, it’s not just my mother I care for. It’s all the teams that work with me,” says Ballas.
“There’s a lot of stress, but I try to hang it up at my front door.
“My advice to other people dealing with stress would be to breathe, take a minute and sometimes you just need to walk away from the situation.”
Ballas attended Chelsea Flower Show in May to support Asthma & Lung UK’s Breathing Space Garden.
“Chelsea was a great opportunity to raise awareness about lung health problems, and to also show what a healing space a garden can be,” says Sleet.
“Within the Breathing Space Garden there were lots of rest places and easy inclines that came into this beautiful central space where people could can do breathing exercises and things like yoga and tai chi.”
Ballas says her mum finds peace in their own garden.
“We don’t have grass in our yard, but we have all sorts of plants,” says Ballas.
“Mum will put her wellies on and will water the plants in her dressing gown.
“It’s very tranquil. She gently goes along and does her thing.
“It’s a way for her to get outside without people watching and judging, so it’s great that she has that nice private space.”
