Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas has shared that she had a near-death experience just before Saturday night’s Blackpool special, and was saved by a quick-thinking colleague
Shirley Ballas had a near-death experience after choking on a fish bone just before the Strictly Come Dancing Blackpool special. The 65-year-old judge of the BBC Latin and Ballroom dance show experienced a terrifying “20 minutes” of struggling to breathe backstage at the Tower Ballroom in the seaside town on Saturday night.
Shirley’s makeup artist, Jane Burstow, came to her aid, successfully dislodging the fish bone by performing the Heimlich manoeuvre. The Queen of Latin expressed that the show would have been short of a judge if it hadn’t been for Jane’s quick thinking.
Recounting the “terrifying” incident to her followers on Instagram, Shirley – who shares the judging panel on Strictly Come Dancing with Craig Revel Horwood, 60, Motsi Mabuse, 44, and 59 year old Anton Du Beke – said: “I choked on a fish bone.
“It got lodged in my throat, and my wonderful Jane, who has been with me for nine years, did the Heimlich manoeuvre, and we got the bone out. But for 20 minutes there, it was lodged and I couldn’t breathe so it was terrifying.
“We’d have been a judge down tonight if it wasn’t for her ..
“Gratitude to Jane because I panicked. I really thought that was it, the end, amen.”
Now back in London, Shirley updated her fans on her condition.
The star shared: “I’m a bit hoarse, but all is good.”
In another Instagram update, she added: “Almost didn’t make it to the desk last night.”
After the terrifying incident, Shirley has pledged to learn the Heimlich manoeuvre – a technique involving abdominal thrusts to remove an obstructing object from someone’s airways – for potential future use.
She declared: “I’m going to study now in case I ever come across anybody who needs my help.”
The episode occurred after Shirley asserted that Strictly Come Dancing will continue “long after I’m gone”, despite calls for it to be put on hold.
The celebrity, who succeeded the late Len Goodman as Head Judge on the show in 2017, told The Sun on Sunday newspaper: “Nobody is bigger than Strictly Come Dancing.
“Not me, not any presenters, not any dancers – that show belongs to the people.
“When I joined the show in 2017, nobody knew me, and there were questions like, ‘Oh, will it fail? Will it be this? Will it be that?'”.
“It carried on ticking and it’ll carry on ticking long after I’m gone and kicked my clogs.”
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