Head judge Shirley Ballas has kept us guessing about whether she's returning to Strictly Come Dancing, with some reports suggesting she would call it quits after just one year.

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But speaking at the National Television Awards, Ballas told RadioTimes.com: "I've had such an amazing, amazing time on the show and if they were to ask me back, I would certainly come back."

Strictly Come Dancing at the NTAs

Ballas picked up Strictly's award for best Talent Show alongside the show's co-presenter Tess Daly.

"Oh we love you Shirley," Daly told her. "We want you! We want you back! You heard it here first – she's back. It's official."

Sounds like a done deal.

Ballas moved back home to the UK to take up the job of Strictly's head judge. But her son Mark Ballas – and the two young dancers she helped raise, Derek Hough and Julianne Hough – live in the US and compete in Dancing With the Stars.

Strictly Come Dancing Shirley Ballas 2017

So would she ever be tempted to follow in the footsteps of Bruno Tonioli, who spends his weekends criss-crossing the Atlantic so he can judge both DWTS and Strictly?

"I'm just going to focus on Strictly right now," she joked. "That's more than I can handle, thank you very much."

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Tess added: "It's a bit of a commute, isn't it, to Los Angeles every week, yeah. He's very, very, very brave doing that. He's a good boy."

Authors

Eleanor Bley GriffithsDrama Editor, RadioTimes.com
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