(Image: BBC)
BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Shirley Ballas facing surgery as she's forced to 'cut hours' at work
by Jessica Sansome · Manchester Evening NewsShirley Ballas has been taking ice baths and juicing to try to avoid spinal surgery. The Strictly Come Dancing head judge has been facing serious back issues for years, but is now trying to avoid going under the knife for as long as possible.
Speaking to Gabby Logan on the ‘Mid Point’ podcast, she said: “I've got this disorder in my spine, degenerative spine which I haven't really talked about with anybody yet. But it is three types of operation. And I don't want to do the operations so I am doing anti-inflammatory.
"So I am trying to do more juicing I am doing ice bathing. Oh yeah, I have got a brass monkey ice bath. I can go up to about four minutes now, I have built up to in the freezing, freezing cold at 5am.
"So I would say it really stimulates me to start my day, plus I have cut my hours down at work because I don't want any operations for as long as I possibly don't have to have any."
The 64-year-old TV star admitted the condition had been caused by years of dancing, which has ultimately led to "wear and tear on an old body". She explained: "It is dance related, wear and tear on an old body, on an old gal! It is just what it is, all that back bending and head flicking you see on Strictly."
Shirley's main goal is "100 per cent" to avoid having the spinal operation, and she has also removed processed foods from her diet in an effort to improve her health.
Last month, the ballroom dancer opened up about her back problems and revealed her condition had “deteriorated over the course of the last year".
She told OK! magazine: “I've been to see three specialists and I may need surgery. It's not a choice, I will have to get it sorted. It can wait until after ‘Strictly’ because I have a high tolerance for pain anyway, and it's something I've been living with for many, many years, but it's just deteriorated over the course of the last year.”