Book review: Behind the Sequins by Shirley Ballas
Hello everybody and welcome back to another blog post,
Have you read Shirley's book before? Have you ever heard of Shirley Ballas? Let me know in the comments below and I'll be sure to reply to them. I ♡ hearing from you!
Recently, I finished reading Shirley Ballas's autobiography, Behind the Sequins, and it was a very good read. It was such a good read in fact that I even recommended the book to my mum and my sister, who were both eager to read it too. On Sunday, my mum finished the book and she was completely awe-struck by Shirley's story and so was I. If you don't already know who Shirley Ballas is, she is a famous Latin dance champion who was popular in the 70s and 80s. She later replaced the head judge of Strictly Come Dancing, Len Goodman, in 2017. I wrote an entire blog post on her on my main blog and you can read that here.
However, despite her many successes in life, it was clear from reading her book that Shirley came from very humble beginnings and has dealt with many struggles in her life and her confidence to talk about these aspects of her life so openly and so unapologetically, is something that I really enjoyed about her autobiography. Growing up in Merseyside on a council estate was certainly difficult for Shirley. After her father left the home when she was very young, Shirley lived with her mother and her older brother. One of the most heart warming things about the read was seeing how hard Shirley's mum worked as a single parent to help finance Shirley's dancing. If you don't already know, ballroom dancing is a very expensive dance style, especially if you want to go on and train competitively in the field like Shirley did. This is because the dresses, the shoes, and the classes all cost a lot of money. However, despite all the struggles, Shirley's mum took up many jobs from working in a café to cleaning, just to keep Shirley dancing and doing what she loved to do. The effort to help Shirley also came from their dear friends on the council estate. One of these friends was a seamstress, who made Shirley a beautiful yellow dress. Another friend offered to look after Shirley and her brother whilst their mother was working long hours to support the dancing. Later, Shirley herself took up small jobs to help finance her own dancing but the shear camaraderie from the people that were willing to help Shirley, despite all the difficulties, was something that I found was really inspiring.
Mental health is also another huge aspect of Shirley's book and it was something that I found was difficult yet really interesting to read about. As Shirley's dad had left the home when she was very young, the only strong male figure that Shirley had left in her life was her older brother David. David was keen to take on the role of the father when his dad left the home and as a result, he became very protective over his younger sister and didn't want anything to tarnish her budding dance career. David was badly bullied by the kids on his council estate because he was trying to prevent Shirley from falling into the wrong crowd. Shirley was able to deal with some of the nasty comments that came her way but David was a bit more sensitive and the bullying had really damaged him in the long run. You'll have to read the full story to understand the situation but later in his life, David did commit suicide and Shirley feels incredibly guilty to this day. Hence why Shirley has now become a voice for many mental health charities because she feels compelled to help people and prevent another suicide from happening. I think that's a very brave and admirable thing to do. On TV, Shirley is a very fun and vibrant person but her willingness to reveal a more vulnerable side to her, I hope, will inspire others to do the same and reach out.
When you read Behind the Sequins, you'll definitely get the sense that Shirley is one of these extreme personalities. Twice divorced and with three previous partners, Shirley's personal life seemed to me crazy and confusing at times. However, it was clear from reading her autobiography, that her personality was what gave her the determination and the fighting spirit that she needed to become as successful as she did. She's a workaholic who has a constant drive for perfection, but that's what made Shirley the champion. I liked this book overall because it showed me that it doesn't matter where you start in life, as long as you are willing to work hard, you'll achieve your ambitions. I found this really inspiring to read about too.
Have you read Shirley's book before? Have you ever heard of Shirley Ballas? Let me know in the comments below and I'll be sure to reply to them. I ♡ hearing from you!
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See you next time,
Bye,
XOX, Juliette
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