Strictly Come Dancing’s Shirley Ballas has been rushed to hospital over fears she’d cracked her skull in a terrifying accident at home.
The hit TV show’s head judge, 65, hit her head when she fell over backwards, smacking it on a glass table.
Following the scare, she was taken in for a brain scan by doctors.
Posting an update to her followers on Instagram on Saturday morning, the professional dancer and teacher began: ‘Thank you to all who reached out to see how I’m doing.
‘Scary fall backwards hitting my head on the glass dressing table :(. Trip to hospital to get a brain scan.’
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But she was then able to share some good news, adding that ‘fortunately for me no cracked skull’.
‘I’ll rest a few days to heel [sic] my neck and back,’ she continued. ‘Huge thank you to @barbara_mccoll for getting my emergency appointment and to Sammy Stopford for taking me, and sitting with me all day.’
Barbara is a fellow professional dancer, while Sammy is Shirley’s ex-husband, who she was married to from 1980 to 1984 before she tied the knot with Corky Ballas, whom she then also divorced in 2007.
Shirley than ended her update, ‘Gratitude as the Dr said I was very lucky,’ finishing with a heart emoji.
Just hours earlier she had posted a picture of herself posing in the mirror in a white shirt, black ties and heeled patent boots with the caption: ‘Life is never what it appears to be!! So enjoy every minute…’
In December she faced a difficult time after the death of her beloved aunt.
She shared details of the personal loss ahead of the Strictly final, penning a lengthy caption in which she wondered where to begin in paying tribute to her ‘dearest’ Auntie Mavis.
Underneath a photo of Shirley hugging her late aunt, she wrote: ‘How I’ll miss you so very much. I’ll miss all your sayings of “you’re right love”, “do you know what I mean like love”, “yeah I know” and I’d say “no you don’t know Mavis”. That one was my favourite.’
She also thanked her aunt for religiously tuning in to Strictly – but only to see what frock Shirley had on for the episode. ‘That always made me smile,’ she wrote on Instagram.
‘Mum and I are sad you’re not here with us any more, Mavis. We will treasure the memories. Mum has many that’s for sure. Her best friend of over 65 years,’ Shirley added, calling their bond ‘unbreakable’.
The TV judge is gearing up for the Strictly live tour alongside fellow judges Craig Revel Horwood and Anton Du Beke, which kicks off in Birmingham at the Utilita Arena on January 23 with 30 shows scheduled until February 15.
The tour includes celebrities from the 2025 show like Harry Aikines-Aryeetey (dancing with Karen Hauer), Vicky Pattinson (dancing with Kai Widdrington), Lewis Cope (dancing with Katya Jones), Ellie Goldstein (dancing with Vito Coppola), La Voix (dancing with Aljaž Škorjanec) and finalist George Clarke (dancing with Alexis Warr).
The Wirral-born star joined Strictly in 2017, and made her debut as head judge in September that year, replacing Len Goodman.
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