Yahoo Finance Shirley Ballas opens up about loneliness in lockdown
Shirley Ballas has spoken out about battling loneliness - and what she does to combat the feeling.
The Strictly Come Dancing head judge was appearing on Good Morning Britain as part of its One Million Minutes campaign, which urged members of the public to pledge their time to help combat loneliness. Shirley described her experience of being alone - but said working with charities had helped her find a purpose.
“I isolated for a majority [of the pandemic] on my own. I had my boyfriend here a little bit but my son, I haven’t seen him for a year and a half, I didn’t see my mother, like everybody else in the country.
"I am not very good at being on my own because I am normally up and about and going and doing. The first part of the lockdown felt like a little bit of a holiday but then when it sets in and you suddenly find yourself quite alone, it’s not such a great place to be. A time for reflection, I just decided to look at myself, get up, dress up, don’t complain, help somebody else.
"So that is what I have been trying to do through my charity work and through this pledging of the minutes.”
Shirley also revealed that her battle with loneliness had been a long term one.
She explains: “You can go about your daily life, you can be in a marriage like I was and it is still a lonely place to be, it is something I have struggled with for a long long time so I can really resonate with different people out there who struggle with it.”
Shirley admitted that being part of Strictly last year had been a real life saver, saying, "I am normally going from 6am in the morning until the evening and then suddenly in lockdown, you are looking for things to do, [and] I don’t like to break the rules.
"Of course I was absolutely extremely grateful that the BBC got Strictly on. I felt like I had won the lottery, so to speak ,and I will never take another job for granted for sure.
Watch Good Morning Britain weekdays on ITV from 6am and catch up on ITV Hub
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