Shirley Ballas nearly 'stopped eating' as she compared herself to Darcey Bussell
Strictly judge Shirley Ballas has told how she became 'super thin' back in 2017 as she compared herself to then fellow judge Darcey Bussell
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Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas has bravely opened up about her past insecurities.
The star told how, upon joining the show's judging line-up in 2017, she soon started comparing her own appearance to that of Darcey Bussell.
The 60-year-old dancer hadn't, at that time, worked in TV and was relatively unknown, not wanting viewers getting to know her to think she was a "fuddy duddy."
"It was in my own head," she told, "I was going on with this most beautiful woman who I always admired, Darcey Bussell, and she was so slender and tall and so graceful.
"She just seemed, in my own mind, everything I wasn't.
"So, I just took those extra steps to make sure the dress was hanging right and the make up was right and the hair was right."
Shirley added: "Not in competition with her, but in competition with myself to not want to let anyone down. I didn't want anyone to think 'oh here's a woman in her late 50s' or a fuddy duddy, I didn't want that feeling."
Although Darcey, who left the show in 2018, was "lovely and really encouraging", Shirley dropped to a size six as she nearly stopped eating.
Shirley continued: "I always had a very curvy shape.
"To get super-thin as I did in 2017 on Strictly and drop down to a size 6, it was hard work.
"It was almost not eating. I cannot and will not do that to myself again."
She also opened up about the bullying she'd received from "men at the top" when she first embarked on her career.
It first happened, Shirley recalled, as a young child and it "intensified from when I was about 50."
Strictly is shaping up to be a hard-fought, tight competition this year, several possibles champions emerging over the past six weeks.
HRVY, YouTube star and singer, is one of the frontrunners, as is EastEnders' Maisie Smith.
Fans thought that Clara Amfo might be in with a shot of lifting the Glitterball Trophy, before Saturday's show saw her shock eviction after a dance-off with Jamie Laing.
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