Shirley Ballas' boyfriend Danny Taylor reveals he was going through a breakup when they first met

Shirley Ballas and her new boyfriend Danny Taylor made a loved-up appearance on Loose Women on Monday, with the Strictly Come Dancing head judge admitting it was "love at first sight" when she laid eyes on her beau. But Danny, 46, revealed that he wasn't at his best when they met for panto Jack and the Beanstalk; the Liverpudlian actor was going through a breakup.

"We met on panto as friends," said Shirley. "It didn't really take off until March… for him. I fell in love way before. I think for me it was first sight. He was going through a difficult time in his relationship. We did become friends and then probably in about February I said, 'I love you Danny' and he said, 'I know'. It took a while."

© Photo: Getty Images

Shirley Ballas and Daniel Taylor met in Panto last Christmas

Danny added: "I was going through a breakup, I was on tour with musical Blood Brothers and at the end of that tour I went through a breakup and then started panto. A lot of our scenes were together on stage, I think I was bit upset one day and she's like 'what's up with you' and I went 'ahh it doesn't matter.' Anyway, I told her and she just put her hand out and she went 'I'll keep an eye on you' and that was kind of it."

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© Photo: Getty Images

Shirley Ballas and Daniel Taylor gave their first joint interview on Monday

Shirley, 59, also touched on the "sexist" comments she's received regarding her and her boyfriend's age gap. "The press seem to always want to put him down as 44, he'll be 47 on his next birthday," she clarified. "I just think it's so sexist. It doesn't seem to matter if an older man gets a younger woman. There's not much chat about it. There seems to be major chat about this [relationship]. There's 12 years, 13 maybe."

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The couple, who met last Christmas, certainly put on a loved-up display on Loose Women. The Queen of Latin enjoyed a little on-screen dance with her actor boyfriend, who came out onto the stage with a rose in his mouth. Shirley jumped up to greet him and kissed him as she took the rose from his mouth. "She's the kind of girl you look at twice. The first time you don't believe it," said Danny.

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