New Strictly judge Shirley Ballas reveals her biggest moments on the dancefloor

David Fleet was my first boy partner. Until I was 13, I had only competed in all-girl competitions with my juvenile partner, Irene Hamilton. I met David when I started training at a dance studio in Liverpool, which I had to take two buses and a train to get to. His parents let me stay with them at weekends, so we could have a lesson on a Saturday, and then go to competitions on a Sunday.

I loved that yellow dress — it was the first I had and I looked after it so carefully. And look at those two bent legs — great technique even at that age!

Dancing at the British home of ballroom

I first went to Blackpool on a coach trip when I was ten years old to see [world-famous champion dancer] Marcus Hilton and it was just amazing — I knew at that moment that ballroom dancing was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Dancing there with David was so overwhelming. The Tower Ballroom has been there such a long time and it’s such a beautiful building, with such atmosphere, that you can almost feel yourself going back in time. I can’t wait to go there with Strictly — it will be like going full-circle for me.

Changing partner for the first time

I was dancing with David when it was suggested I try out with the British junior ballroom champion, Nigel Tiffany, which was beyond anything I could’ve dreamt of — I was reasonably good then, but certainly no superstar. When Nigel and I started dancing together I’d get the train up to Shipley, West Yorkshire, but after a few weeks it became apparent it was too far for me to go aged 15, so it was decided that I’d move in with him and his family.

A short-lived affair with Nigel

Aged 16, I got engaged to Nigel and we soon moved to London together. I got a secretarial job that I was in no way qualified for, and Nigel got a job at a building society. My panda, Hansafarter Rich (I have no idea how I came up with that name!), came with us. My mother had given him to me to keep me company on all my travels. It was only a year later, in 1977, that he came with me again when I left Nigel. It was heart-breaking and I look back now and see how hurt he was. We’re still in touch today, though — he’s my financial adviser. I’m still in touch with all my dance-partners… and both my ex-husbands.

Grabbing my chance of stardom – and changing my partner again!

When I was 17 I got a call from my then coach, Nina Hunt, who said to me, “Do you want to get married and be a secretary for the rest of your life? Or do you want the chance of a lifetime to become a world champion in Latin American dancing?” She had set me up with a try-out with Sammy Stopford, who was a champion Latin dancer at the time. I left Nigel straightaway, before I even had the try-out! A couple of days later, when I met Sammy, he took my hand, I took two steps back, and he said, “Wrap it up — I’ll take it. This is the girl I’ve been looking for.” All I remember is that he was good-looking, he was a great dancer and he drove a car — what more could a girl want! So I left London and moved back up north to Manchester, to live with him.

Living to dance – with my first husband

Six months after getting together, Sammy and I never missed a final. Once we’d got married, in 1980, they called us the Non-Stop Stopfords. Sammy taught me everything about Latin dancing, and competing at a high level, he was as tough as a hobnailed boot, and for that I am extremely grateful because this business takes no prisoners, and if you’re not strong-minded, you will never survive it. But our whole life was just dance, dance, dance… there never seemed to be time for any social activity; I never went to a nightclub. We opened a studio, I ran it, we travelled the world competing, we won the British championships in 1983. And then, aged 24, I met Corky Ballas…

Marrying again, moving to America and training Corky to be a champion

Corky was fun and from a wealthy family in the States — his father invented a strimmer called The Weed Eater and he lived a very privileged life… I fell in love with him and thought I didn’t want to dance any more, so I left Sammy, married Corky in 1984 [they parted in 2002] and moved to the States. But six months later, I realised I couldn’t turn my back on dance, so I trained him to be a professional dancer. When I left Sammy, everyone told me, “You’ll never succeed in this industry again,” but Corky used to say, “Stick with me, I’ll take you places” — when he didn’t know his left foot from his right! He had the most amazing self-belief. When everybody said we couldn’t, he proved we could, and we won the “British Open to the World” championships twice together, in 1995 and 1996.

Life on tour – and giving birth to a future champ!

We toured all over Japan for six weeks at a time, several times a year, and of course when our son Mark was born, he toured with us. Mark was born in May 1986 and I always say he came out doing the cha-cha-cha and the jive! I took up competing again in the August. In his school holidays my mum would send him with a little rucksack to wherever we were in the world. But in 1996, when I was 36 and Mark was ten, it was time to spend more time with him — although soon after that, he decided he wanted to be a Latin American and ballroom dancer, too, so I became the mum going to all his competitions! He, of course, won the “British Open to the World” junior championships in Blackpool and is now a pro-dancer on Dancing with the Stars in the US, giving me tips on my new job. For ever in this business — I love it!

Strictly Come Dancing Launch Show is on Saturday 7pm BBC1