Shirley Ballas blasts toyboy critics

Shirley Ballas hates when people call her boyfriend a "toyboy".

The \'Strictly Come Dancing\' judge is 12 years older than her 47-year-old partner Danny Taylor and says she is unfairly criticised for dating a younger man.

Shirley, 59, told the Daily Mail\'s Eden Confidential column: "It makes me cross. He\'s a 47-year-old grown man who can make his own choices. He\'s not 18.

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"You can have a man who\'s 25 years older than his girlfriend, and no one says anything."

However, she admitted that she was worried about the age gap when she first met Danny last year.

She said: "When I first got together with Danny, it was an issue for me. But he said, \'I don\'t see the age. I see the person -- and the age issue is irrelevant to me\'."

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Meanwhile, Shirley previously revealed she would marry her boyfriend "tomorrow" if he asked her.

The \'Strictly Come Dancing\' judge - who has been married twice before - admits she has never experienced a feeling before like she has with Danny, who she met while starring alongside him in pantomime \'Jack And The Beanstalk\' last year.

She said: "I would marry him tomorrow, if he asked me. If this is what love is I have never experienced it before."

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Shirley said the pair were friends at first before hooking up a few months later.

She explained: "I met him in late November and he was going through a difficult time with his ex.

"I met him at a difficult time in his life and we became friends first. We did not get together until February as a couple."

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The ballroom dancer was previously married to fellow performer Sammy Stopford from 1980 to 1984, and she was later wed to Corky Ballas from 1985 to 2007.