Man accused of stalking Shirley Ballas for six years

A man has been charged with stalking Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas during a six-year campaign that caused her “serious distress”, a court has heard.

Kyle Shaw, 37, was accused of sending messages to the 64-year-old between 2017 and 2023, which “had a substantial adverse effect on her usual day-to-day activities”.

Appearing at South Sefton magistrates’ court in Bootle, Merseyside, Shaw was charged with stalking and a separate charge of possessing cannabis, according to The Sun.

The charge stated that he had “pursued a course of conduct, namely sending messages online, which amounted to stalking causing Shirley Ballas serious alarm or distress”.

He made no pleas in court, and his address was given as a YMCA in the region.

Shaw is not allowed to enter London and is prohibited from contacting or approaching Ballas “by any means including social media”.

Five months ago, the Strictly judge said that she called the police after a man was seen taking pictures of her house and car. She said that the man also “lunged” at her. Investigating officers confiscated his phone and computer, but is not known whether that investigation is linked to Shaw.

‘‘I like to be kind of like a free bird, but we’re coming into times now where you have to be more ­vigilant of yourself,” she said at the time, according to The Sun.

“You’re upping your level of alarms. And I always tell my mum, ‘I’m here, I’ve arrived’. I wouldn’t bother normally but it’s become a thing that we do. I always like to say, ‘I’m safe, I’m in the right place, I’m where I should be.’”

She added: “Thankfully the BBC’s duty of care towards me has been one thousand per cent. They have been fantastic.

“In some of these instances, when it was difficult — this stalker came from the north of England — I had somebody walking me from the hotel. They checked in on me to make sure that I was OK. I just felt very well protected.”