Shirley Ballas has revealed how her mum reacted to her taking part in Celebrity Bear Hunt and she had a very startling reaction which almost saw the star cut off
Shirley Ballas’ mum threatened to cut her off after a daring career move.
The Strictly Come Dancing star, 64, has spoken openly in the past about her close bond with her mum, Audrey Rich, but things almost completely changed after she signed for a new role. Shirley is one of several celebrities taking part in the new series, Celebrity Bear Hunt, with Holly Willoughby and Bear Grylls fronting the show.
She’ll be joined by the likes of Spice Girls icon, Melanie Brown MBE, Lottie Moss, Boris Becker, Steph McGovern, Una Healy and model Leomie Anderson. But it almost come with a huge cost for Shirley after her mother threatened to cut her off for her decision. In a new interview, Wirral-born Shirley has spoken about the show and how she refused to moan – despite the intense challenges.
Despite the brutal challenges, Shirley wasn’t afraid to get stuck in as she took some of the younger celebrities under her arm to keep morale high in the camp. The eight-part series will see the celebs split into two teams as they take on challenges which will test them, before the losing celebs are forced into the Bear Pitt – which is said to be natures deadliest escape room.
“My mum was so shocked when she heard and said she wouldn’t speak to me if I did it,” she revealed. Shirley went on to add: “But then I thought of how people put themselves out of their comfort zones when they come on Strictly.” Speaking to TV Times, Shirley continued: “I don’t want to be someone who doesn’t want to try things, I want to keep challenging myself.”
The show looks to be a crossover of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! with a twist of Channel 4 show The Island with Bear Grylls thrown in for good measure. Holly adds: “The ultimate survival challenge, twelve celebrities are in the Costa Rican jungle going head-to-head with the legendary Bear Grylls.”
Shirley will also hope to hot foot it through Costa Rica in front of the cameras whilst the Lottie, will go from the cat walk to keeping her eye out for wildcats. First look images show Mel B padding along a river and Boris Becker doning a headband as he gets into survival mode. Whilst the celebs are in combat trousers and matching T-shirts one big name still looks like she is on holiday.
According to makers Netflix, Bear believes there’s an action hero inside us all – even the celebs – and now we get to watch how they manage to survive as Bear puts them through their paces. Bear says: “I have done many wild things in my life but I have never hunted celebrities. The celebrities won’t come out of this the same.”
Those who fail to impress will face the dreaded Bear Hunt – a brutal game of cat and mouse where they’ll be hunted down by Bear himself and, if captured, face elimination from the show.
Follow Mirror Celebs onTikTok,Snapchat,Instagram,Twitter,Facebook,YouTubeandThreads.