Top 91 Quotes & Sayings by Shirley Ballas

A tradition I have on Christmas morning - my son has always been the one that cooks the breakfast and I am always the one in the evening attempting to cook the beautiful Christmas dinner. And during the day we just have a nice snore, a nice relax and watch a movie.

I love ballroom dance, my favorite style being the Argentine Tango.

I haven't got a green bone in my body. I have not got a jealous streak of any type at all.

Ballroom is a man's world. It's tough for women, particularly single women. But I've never expected life to be anything but tough.

I like the table to be beautiful with flowers and a nice tablecloth. I'm the hostess with the mostess.

Curvy women are gorgeous. All women are gorgeous.

I was a fan of Meghan's before she met our gorgeous Prince Harry. I loved her in Suits,' I admired her work ethic and her charity work, and I think she is such a breath of fresh air.

I think dancing was a way of showing your femininity and, through the years, your strength, because it's a male-dominated industry.

I love to work but just as important is the time that you spend with your family.

I will never take any work or shopping for granted.

When I married Sammy, my first husband, we were both just so young. But I've had a hugely successful career and I owe a lot of what I learnt in the industry to him, because he was already a top professional, and I was a nobody, really.

My mother collects engagement rings.

How many years did I waste worrying about the way I look? I'm almost 60 and it has taken me all these years. Don't wait until you get to my age to realize that you are beautiful.

My mum has taught me that the clock is ticking and you have to enjoy every moment - you can not replace time.

You have to put your partner and family at the top of the list and there must be downtime - time for gardening, cooking time, book reading time.

When I moved to L.A. I was single and didn't want to be on my own.

There are always some people that like what you do and there's always going to be some who don't like what you do.

There was some bullying going on in my industry, which I felt particularly when I was growing up and as I got older.

I've had cancer cells removed from my womb several times.

I am an absolute clean freak and scrub things constantly; I am an over-perfectionist.

'Strictly' was my first job in TV ever.

When I met Corky, he was a cook, a chef. He never started dancing seriously until he was 21, which shows you can make it from any age.

People seem to think that, by the time you hit 45 or 50, you might as well just pack it in and call it a day.

Riches and fame don't come close to having family members and close friends who really care for you.

I don't dwell, I'm not a dweller. I just like to keep moving forward, because life is short.

I've discovered if you have a small circle of people you know you can rely on - in good times, bad times, happy times, sad times - who aren't going to judge you and will, sometimes, just sit and listen to you without saying anything, then I think you're very fortunate.

If it's good-looking men you're after, the place to go is Italy. Every Italian I've ever come across is handsome.

When I got the Strictly' job it made sense to come back to England.

I have a little piece of extra skin - a good inch - on the end of my chin that I play with like Silly Putty.

For years Corky was what I call a jokester. He'd tease me with things like, 'You've got breasts like two currants on a breadboard' or 'You've got a sunken chest like a pirate's something or other.' He didn't like my teeth until I got braces at 25. It's like a little pickaxe that goes, chip, chip, chip, until, in the end, you think you are ugly.

I didn't overly have friends in L.A. I would work and come home and watch television.

I'm proud of winning the British Open in 1983 when I was very young.

My mother raised two children on a housing estate, in a place where people said once you got on, you never got off. And she believed in me. So when people tell you that you can't, you can.

As a child I was always busy, always throwing myself into something, whether it was the Brownies or a play at school.

Aside from dancing, the biggest and proudest moment of my whole entire life was when my son Mark was born.

What I've learned is Twitter is only a bubble - take it with a pinch of salt.

If I was in a relationship again it would have to be with somebody that really cared about me, who was kind, caring and loving.

You can't make somebody love you, no matter what you do to yourself. You can get implants, you can get all these procedures, thinking you will be more of a woman for that person. But it does not make a difference. If they don't love you, they won't no matter what you do to your appearance.

My whole life I've never felt, as a female, I was up to scratch.

If I could go back to my younger self, I would never have had the implants done. I feel relieved and I feel proud for removing them now.

If you use your time well and you have your health you are already a millionaire and everything else is secondary.

It isn't until you're at peace with yourself that everything about you is beautiful.

It's important to show your gratitude for where you are in your life and for those around you.

I was engaged at 16 to Nigel Tiffany and he's now my financial adviser, so we've been friends all these years.

My hairdresser Alan, who I've known since I began competing, lives with us, along with his husband Nathan, so I have my own gay gaggle.

I thought I'd have this fantastic bust and everyone would look at me and think I was amazing. After the operation I did feel fantastic: I'd put a bra on and I had a cleavage.

I think I was always driven because I came from absolutely nothing. I was that piece of rubbish from a block of flats on a council estate.

I am self-critical and always have been.

I'm quite a softie really.

I am terrible at remembering names.

I met my first dance partner when I was about 17 or 18 and we were married by the time we were 18 or 19, I don't remember the exact date, and everything was dance, dance, dance. Then there came just a short space of time where I was wondering whether I was missing out on anything. Back then when you danced, everybody married their dance partner.

Don't do what I did and think you need to have these procedures to make you look more attractive. Don't look at the implant and think it will make you beautiful and everyone will really love you.

One of the things people learn with me is I don't need to pull someone else down to build myself up, and I will live and die by that rule.

It doesn't seem very long ago I was a girl from a council estate with nothing but dreams.

It was scary to move to the U.S.

My favorite room in my house is my bedroom; my private space where I can go to do my reading or listen to music.

I don't like the darkness and sleep with the light on.

I just remember one girl really getting me on the field and beating the holy crap out of me. I never to this day know why. And then people used to be funny because we were on welfare. People used to make fun of you. But I used to get school dinners so I thought it was great, I got a hot meal every day.

When you are part of a massive TV show like Strictly,' it's not just about the professional dancers and celebrities taking part, there could be young or old people out there who are watching and they might also be inspired to take up dancing, and I find that so special.

When I first went on Strictly' I had a little phase at the beginning, you know, when I was sat next to this really beautiful lady, Darcey Bussell - this ballerina, this Snow White beauty - that I stopped eating until I looked at myself and realized I looked so gaunt.