Head judge Shirley Ballas on how she lasts the live shows without a loo break

Strictly Come Dancing’s glamorous head coach, Shirley Ballas, wants to break the taboo around bladder leaks. But she reveals even she had her doubts about speaking out.

“I wasn't sure,” she tells Saga Magazine. “And it was my 87-year-old mother who gave me a push in the right direction and said, ‘you know, we need to get everyday messages out there.' She pushes me to do a few things out of my comfort zone, I'll tell you. 

“‘The world is not glitz and glamour, Shirley,’ she said, ‘so let's get down to brass tacks, and let's get as many messages out there as we can’. 

“She’s very good because I was embarrassed.”

For 64-year-old Shirley has experienced the distressing problem of bladder leaks – after her son was born, going through the menopause and also during two divorces.

And it was her mum who came to her rescue after she had her son Mark, now a choreographer.

“I had to get dancing six weeks after he was born,” she said. “In a Latin American dress. You've no idea. You know them little flips, you imagine those little dresses. 

“And it was my mother that made up something for me so that I wouldn't be leaking, because back then, we didn't have all this. And so she is the one who really encouraged me to do this now.”

Squeeze the Day

Shirley has joined forces with Always Discreet for a Squeeze the Day campaign to encourage us all, no matter what age, to do pelvic floor exercises every day.

She joined in a flash mob to create a special dance routine to remind everyone to do their daily squeezes.

“I don't want it to be a taboo subject,” says Shirley. “We talk about periods now, we talk about the menopause, and I want people to talk about the leaks, and it's okay to do that.”

Don't suffer in silence with bladder leaks

Research by Always Discreet has revealed that one in three women have experienced bladder leaks at some point in their lives. GP and women’s health expert Dr Philippa Kaye is partnering Shirley in the campaign.

She said: “The fact that something is common doesn't mean that it's something that we have to put up with, right? So having bladder leaks is not a normal part of ageing. 

“They're a common part of getting older, but we can always do something about them.

“Often, I see people who say, I'm just going to drink less. But your urine just becomes more and more concentrated, and that can irritate the bladder itself.”

Dr Kaye revealed that nine out of 10 women aren’t doing pelvic floor exercises as often as they should, and many admit they aren’t sure how to do them. Men can do them too – they are just as beneficial for men.

“It is never too late to start, because pelvic floor exercises not only treat the condition, they can prevent the condition. It's absolutely never too late.”

Shirley on her own bladder issues

Shirley says she’s taken action to avoid bladder issues during Strictly.

“I was avoiding drinking any fluid during the day. I was always nervous, always thinking that Motsie is going to really make me laugh here.”

She wasn't the only one struggling to hold on. She revealed that co-judge Anton du Beke often dashes off for a pee in the two-minute break they get when the video footage of contestants is playing.

“The men can run because they’ve got flat shoes on and suits,” she says. “So it’s a quick unzip and go, you know. But I can’t.

“It was nerve-racking because it's two-and-a-half-hours, so I wasn’t drinking fluid because I didn’t want to get caught short.”

How Shirley took back control of her bladder

Shirley said at one stage she never passed a toilet without popping in, and on the one-and-a-half-hour drive to the Strictly studio, her driver would have to stop at every service station for her to use the loo – just in case.

“It was every 15 minutes,” she explains. “It was just that feeling of wanting to go even if I didn’t really need to, I think that’s all in the training.”

Dr Kaye added that this is common. She said: “It’s something we’re taught from a young age, quick go for a wee before we leave the house, quick go for a wee before school, quick go for a wee just in case and actually we don’t need to.”

So Shirley started working on spacing out her loo breaks – a technique called bladder training or bladder drills.

The process is that you consciously hold your water for longer and longer periods, all the while ensuring you drink plenty of water.

Shirley says: “The more water I drink, the stronger my bladder is becoming. So at first, I was peeing every 15 minutes. Now I can go an hour or more because my bladder learns how to hold it.

“I was at Pride of Britain and I passed a bathroom and thought shall I go? But I thought you know what, 30 minutes home, I’m going to see if I can wait, and I did and I got home.”

Dr Kaye said this bladder training alongside regular pelvic floor exercises is the key to being in control of your own bladder – rather than being ruled by it.

Shirley on this year’s Strictly

Shirley says this year's series of Strictly Come Dancing has been her favourite so far.

“We've got this across the board fabulous cast that have really embraced each other and embraced the show.”

She’s got four stand-out celebrity dancers so far.

“I think there’s Chris McCausland, the comic – and there's the fact that he is absolutely blind. So that's worth noting. And then we've got Tasha (Ghouri); she has a cochlear implant. Wynne (Evans), he came in there, and he's giving it 100% of everything that he's got. 

“And Pete Wicks, who came on a bit of a jokester at the beginning, and now he's really serious, and realises ‘I'm loving every minute of this and I don't want to go home’.”

She also revealed a technical change has made a big difference for her and the other judges.

“I don't know if you've noticed, she said. “But all four judges’ microphones are up, so we're allowed to banter between each other. It means it’s more conversational and I think that's actually what makes things authentic. It’s real and that's what we've got on the show. 

“Whoever wins this series for sure, will be winning something super special.”