Strictly Come Dancing head judge Shirley Ballas has shared details of how she'll spend Christmas with her family, 15 years after her brother died. The 58-year-old told the Daily Mail: "We've booked a restaurant in Liverpool for Christmas lunch with Auntie Barbara and Uncle Norman [her dad’s sister and her husband] and my niece Mary so Mum doesn’t have to do any work, but then we’ll go back to hers for a nice Christmas pudding." She then explained that her family haven't celebrated Christmas properly since her brother David's death, saying: "There was no way we could enjoy Christmas without David. I couldn’t believe he wasn’t there, eating his treble helpings of Christmas dinner with ten glasses of milk. David wasn’t a drinker but he loved milk and chocolate – he was a chocoholic!"
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© Photo: ITVIn the heartbreaking interview, Shirley continued: "After David died, Mum threw away all the decorations. I was living in the US and we always got together as a family – sometimes his daughter Mary would go to her mother’s, sometimes she’d come to me, usually quietly watching films on television and wishing it would be over. It was all a little bit solemn."
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But it sounds like things will be different this year for Shirley and her mum, who was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, as they adopt a more positive approach to the festivities. Shirley has been nursing her mum and she told the Mirror that they speak on the phone around four times a day. The pair also dressed up to spend an evening at a charity ball last month, where they both dazzled in glamorous outfits. We hope their Christmas is filled with more sparkle than the Strictly wardrobe department!
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