Shirley Ballas books doctor’s appointment after concerned Strictly Come Dancing viewers spot ‘lumps’ in her armpit

Head judge reassured viewers she was taking their concerns seriously

Shirley Ballas has informed fans she has booked a doctor’s appointment after several Strictly Come Dancing viewers raised concern over “lumps” they’d noticed in her armpit.

The head judge, 61, shared an Instagram message from her dressing room ahead of Saturday night’s (16 October) episode, reassuring fans she was taking their concerns seriously.

“Hi everybody, last week and the week before I got some alarming messages from people saying that when I picked my arm up they could see lumps or bumps, or nodes or whatever,” she said.

“So I just did some self checks and I couldn’t feel anything except a tiny little node at the back, but I’m going to go to the doctors on Tuesday.”

She added: “To all women out there, please keep checking yourselves and to those people that were concerned enough to message me that they saw lumps and bumps, I’m very grateful.”

Ballas urged her followers to regularly check their own bodies for anything new or unusual.

“With gratitude, thank you,” she said.

Ballas has spoken in the past about her family history of cancer. She recently had a scare in June when she found a lump in her shoulder but said her doctor “seems to think it will be fine”.

In 2019, she had her breast implants removed in order to reduce the risk of developing the disease, as implants can block early signs of it being detected.