Shirley Ballas
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Shirley Ballas (née Rich, formerly Stopford; born 1960) is an English ballroom dancer, dance teacher, and dance adjudicator from Wallasey, Merseyside who specialises in the International Latin division, where she won several championship titles which earned her the nickname The Queen of Latin.

In 2017, Ballas became the head judge on the BBC TV show, Strictly Come Dancing, replacing Len Goodman.

Ballas was born and raised in Wallasey, England, with brother David and mother Audrey. The children's father left the family when Shirley was 2 years old. She began dancing at age 7, and began performing competitively the following years.

At 15, Ballas moved to North Yorkshire to partner British Ballroom Champion Nigel Tiffany, which she described as "a difficult time". Two years later, she moved with Tiffany to London, where their partnership ended after dance teacher Nina Hunt convinced her to audition to partner with dancer Sammy Stopford. The two married when Ballas was 18, with the relationship ending five years later. As dance partners, they came second in the 1982, 1983 & 1985 Professional World Latin Dance Championships. The pair won the 1983 International Latin American Dance Championship, and were the 1984 UK Open Champions in Professional Latin.