An emotional Shirley Ballas said she needed a “little brandy” to calm her nerves after her professional dancer son Mark was crowned champion of Dancing With The Stars.
The Strictly Come Dancing head judge, 62, went live on Instagram to share her delight at the win and reveal she “stayed up all night“ to see the results.
Mark, 36, won with his celebrity dance partner, TikTok star and influencer Charli D’Amelio, on Monday, December 20.
Ballas, 62, gushed: “I want to give a huge thank you to Harry who’s kept me abreast of everything, and Corky [her ex-husband, Mark’s father] all night.
“Nanny [her mother] and I have been here, who just got up now, to have a little brandy, because our nerves have gone.”
She added: “Huge congratulations to Mark for a beautiful season, to Charli for really working hard, and to all the beautiful fans, Courtney and Mark and Charli fans, thank you for keeping me in the loop.
“You are all superstars. Really appreciate it. Thank you... oh my God!”
Mark and Charli earned perfect scores for both their jive redemption dance and freestyle dance routine during the two-hour live finale, which aired in the UK on Disney+.
The pro-dancer has now lifted the American equivalent to the Glitterball Trophy three times but is unsure if he’ll return to the show next series.
He said: “I don’t know (if I’m coming back). You know, the older I get, I try to stay very present in the moment...
“So, right now, I’m in this moment with Charli and… my body couldn’t even fathom a thought of doing this [in] six months, so I’ll let you know down the line.”
The Strictly judge shares Mark with ex-husband Corky Ballas, whom she married following her divorce from first husband Sammy Stopford. She and Corky split in 2007.
She has been dating Daniel Taylor, who is 13 years her junior, for four years.
