Shirley Ballas has recalled the exact moment her world collapsed around her.

Snuggled up in bed alongside her 87 year old mother Audrey at 9pm on her 64th birthday, her mobile suddenly blazed to life. A family member of her fiancé Danny Taylor was on the line, revealing he had vanished without trace, his phone was switched off and his loved ones were deeply concerned about his whereabouts.

In that moment, she was overwhelmed by the devastating memories of her brother David, who had heartbreakingly taken his own life in 2003 at just 44 years old.

"All those memories came flooding back...it triggered all these emotions," she told the Mirror.

Her contact details were handed to police officers who shared similar concerns about the situation, and she spent the following hours desperately attempting to locate Danny, ringing round all his friends and family.

At 2am, she spotted that her WhatsApp messages to Danny had been opened.

Yet relief transformed into fury when Danny emerged the following day and continued as though nothing whatsoever had occurred. Almost instantly, she recognised that she couldn't tolerate someone in her life who could inflict such torment upon her once more.

"I will never forget that day until the day I die. I remember looking across in the middle of the night and I saw my mother was just so upset, reliving all of her trauma," she says. I just thought 'this can't go on'. Not just for my sake, but my mum too."

"I still loved him but I thought this is something I can't continue to be a part of," Shirley explains, issuing the three-word verdict, "It's all very sad."

She and Danny, who is 13 years her junior, had first crossed paths whilst performing in pantomime together in 2018.

The television personality, who had remained single for four and a half years, was portraying Mother Nature whilst Danny played the villainous Fleshcreep in Jack And The Beanstalk in Liverpool.

She confessed she rapidly became smitten with him, with the couple becoming engaged in 2021. She had even purchased the wedding bands.

"There was no question about how much I loved that man. And he came into my life at a point when I really, really needed it and he was such a caring person," she explains. "But what's the nicest way to say this? Along the line, there were red flags that I chose to ignore, but it just got to a point where the relationship was becoming too difficult for me in many ways."

Shirley reveals that Danny was a "drifter by nature" and if they experienced a disagreement or conversation that became somewhat intense, they wouldn't speak for days.

It was, she notes, rather similar to her father who would frequently disappear during her childhood. Things that she once found charming, such as his unpredictable train arrivals or showing up at her doorstep with a disorganised suitcase, soon started to annoy her.

In her book, she discusses how she lavished him with gifts "thinking that's how I should show him I loved him".

As a result, he enjoyed the "best of the best", including bespoke clothing, Gucci shoes, Mont Blanc cufflinks, luxurious holidays, and a Mini Coupé. She even employed him as her personal assistant during Covid when he was out of work.

"We still haven't seen each other face to face since that night, which I've asked for many times," she says. "I'm a person who needs closure, and it's just never closed. I always think it's nice to sit in a room, because when people write text messages, you don't really know the tone."

Unsurprisingly, Shirley confesses she's reluctant to dive headfirst into another romance, if indeed at all. The star has walked down the aisle twice previously. She exchanged vows with dance partner Sammy Stopford in 1980 but called it quits after four years.

Then came a passionate union with fellow dancer Corky Ballas, with whom she shares son Mark.