Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I think I was always driven because I came from absolutely nothing. I was that piece of rubbish from a block of flats on a council estate.
You have to put your partner and family at the top of the list and there must be downtime - time for gardening, cooking time, book reading time.
I know that my great-grandfather - George Rich - was born in Cape Town in 1866 and it set my journey off to go to Cape Town to discover and find out more.
I thought I'd have this fantastic bust and everyone would look at me and think I was amazing. After the operation I did feel fantastic: I'd put a bra on and I had a cleavage.
How many years did I waste worrying about the way I look? I'm almost 60 and it has taken me all these years. Don't wait until you get to my age to realize that you are beautiful.
People get embarrassed about admitting they feel low but you can't help the way you feel. Which is why exercise, taking vitamins and having time out for meditation are so important.
I was a fan of Meghan's before she met our gorgeous Prince Harry. I loved her in Suits,' I admired her work ethic and her charity work, and I think she is such a breath of fresh air.
I've had a lot of trolling on Instagram, things I can't even repeat on air. The biggest shock was when it was hand-delivered to the Hippodrome theatre before I went on air. Hand-written.
My mother raised two children on a housing estate, in a place where people said once you got on, you never got off. And she believed in me. So when people tell you that you can't, you can.
On Twitter one lady said, I've seen corpses that look better than Shirley.' I saw the picture she was talking about that Comic Relief had posted and I thought, Well yeah, she's got a point.'
Don't do what I did and think you need to have these procedures to make you look more attractive. Don't look at the implant and think it will make you beautiful and everyone will really love you.
When you get to my age, 59, the thought of getting the Latin dress and the Latin shoes on is a bit worrying. Your heart and your mind is always willing, but sometimes your body just says What are you doing?!'
I'm the happiest at home when I get a visit from my daughter-in-law, BC Jean, and Mark Ballas, my son. They'll pop round for breakfast or I'll attempt to cook them a meal. That's the most special time for me.
The first thing I do in the morning is pick up my cell phone and call my mother to check that she's ok, and the first thing I do in the evening is call my mother to see how she's doing, and my son to see how his day went.
For 50 years of my life I never weighed myself at all, I would go by how my clothes fit, but I was back in England to take care of my mother while she was getting better. The pounds crept on and I got a little bit nervous about it.
When I married Sammy, my first husband, we were both just so young. But I've had a hugely successful career and I owe a lot of what I learnt in the industry to him, because he was already a top professional, and I was a nobody, really.
What I like to do when nobody's watching at home is, when I have my shower in the morning, I listen to music - my favorite group is Alexander Jean - they wrote a beautiful rumba called Paper Planes.' So I do my little rumba moves while I'm washing my hair.
A tradition I have on Christmas morning - my son has always been the one that cooks the breakfast and I am always the one in the evening attempting to cook the beautiful Christmas dinner. And during the day we just have a nice snore, a nice relax and watch a movie.
When I first went on Strictly' I had a little phase at the beginning, you know, when I was sat next to this really beautiful lady, Darcey Bussell - this ballerina, this Snow White beauty - that I stopped eating until I looked at myself and realized I looked so gaunt.
I've discovered if you have a small circle of people you know you can rely on - in good times, bad times, happy times, sad times - who aren't going to judge you and will, sometimes, just sit and listen to you without saying anything, then I think you're very fortunate.
When you are part of a massive TV show like Strictly,' it's not just about the professional dancers and celebrities taking part, there could be young or old people out there who are watching and they might also be inspired to take up dancing, and I find that so special.
You can't make somebody love you, no matter what you do to yourself. You can get implants, you can get all these procedures, thinking you will be more of a woman for that person. But it does not make a difference. If they don't love you, they won't no matter what you do to your appearance.
I just remember one girl really getting me on the field and beating the holy crap out of me. I never to this day know why. And then people used to be funny because we were on welfare. People used to make fun of you. But I used to get school dinners so I thought it was great, I got a hot meal every day.
For years Corky was what I call a jokester. He'd tease me with things like, 'You've got breasts like two currants on a breadboard' or 'You've got a sunken chest like a pirate's something or other.' He didn't like my teeth until I got braces at 25. It's like a little pickaxe that goes, chip, chip, chip, until, in the end, you think you are ugly.
I met my first dance partner when I was about 17 or 18 and we were married by the time we were 18 or 19, I don't remember the exact date, and everything was dance, dance, dance. Then there came just a short space of time where I was wondering whether I was missing out on anything. Back then when you danced, everybody married their dance partner.