Shirley is on our screens constantly in the run up to Christmas, love her or hate her, as an immaculately fabulous expert on Strictly. But whatever preconceived notions someone might have had about Shirley (as my mum did before this show, describing her as ‘a bit showy and ostentatious’), it was impossible not to be captivated by the honest, likeable person behind her polished persona.
Shirley spoke of her perpetual hardship in the competitive dance world, which is the basis of her new murder mystery book. There is a harmful culture of misogyny, bullying and body shaming in the dance industry that Shirley shared her own experiences with and shines a light on in her book. Sensuality and scandal are not themes that Shirley, nor her book shy away from either. While discussing the toxicity she faced, such as returning to full-time dancing only eight weeks after giving birth and receiving hurtful comments about her stretch marks being ‘disgusting,’ she credited her success to these challenges and rejected pity, emphasising that these obstacles contributed to her achievements.
Reassuringly to fans, she couldn’t have spoken more fondly about the Strictly world. In 2017, she nearly stepped away from dancing altogether after being ostracised in the dance circuit, but her son pushed her to pursue the Strictly job, as he knew Len Goodman (a family friend after teaching Shirley) was leaving the show. She laughed about how her first interview was a colossal failure; she was put in a ball gown and extravagant makeup and told to critique past Strictly performances. With a full career of judging the world’s best dancers, she was at a loss when Ann Widdicombe was dragged across the dancefloor and Ed Balls attempted the ‘Gangnam Style.’ The next day she was given another chance, ‘smashed it in jeans’ and got the opportunity to share her vast expertise.
Shirley talked inspirationally about how her life at 63 is better and fuller than ever, despite feeling a societal disregard of women over 50 as ‘over the hill.’ She outlined her busy schedule, including up to 14 hours of teaching dance in a day, charity work and her ‘easy side job’ as Strictly’s head judge, proving ‘over the hill’ she is not. She raises money for CALM and suicide prevention specifically, after her brother David took his own life.
She expressed her love for her son, who followed in her footsteps on Dancing With the Stars, and her 86-year-old mother, with whom she lives and shares a very close bond, and gave us a heart-warming look into her limited down time amid her hectic dancing life.
Shirley unveiled a lot of personal adversity she’d endured, but had a bubbly outlook throughout that matched her fiercely upbeat TV personality.
Rating: ★★★★☆
Murder on the Dance Floor was published in October 2023. Other Off the Shelf Festival events can be found here.