Strictly's Shirley Ballas writes murder mystery novel

Shirley Ballas has written her first novel.

The 62-year-old 'Strictly Come Dancing' judge has put pen to paper to author a murder-mystery book titled 'Murder on the Dance Floor' which she describes as full of 'sex, lies and intrigue' admitting it was so raunchy it got her mum "hot and bothered" when she read it.

Shirley told The Mirror newspaper: "It’s a great sex, lies and intrigue murder mystery and a real page turner.

"My mum read it in six hours. She’s an avid reader of Mills Boon [romance books]and it got her hot and bothered. I asked her afterwards if it was good and she said she couldn’t put it down."

She added: "I like to write and I have a vivid imagination."

Shirley revealed she was inspired to go into fiction writing after putting together her autobiography - because there were so many racy details she had to leave out.

She explained: "When I wrote my autobiography, there was a lot I couldn’t include, so I thought, ‘I’ll go into this genre’."

It comes after Shirley hinted she might not return to 'Strictly' after suffering brutal trolling online. The star - who has yet to sign a new contract with the show - told the Sunday Mirror newspaper: “Last year I was struggling. It wasn’t just a little bit, it was a lot – the majority of it was in silence. “I felt the abuse snowballed out of control and impacted me in such a negative way ... And that was an all-time low since I joined the show – it was the most negativity I’d ever experienced. The BBC were brilliant, checking in on me and offering counselling and support.”

Asked if she has considered quitting the show, she replied: “It was a difficult series, I’ll leave it at that ... Will I go back to 'Strictly'? I always take one step at a time. I absolutely love the job. If it was just that, and there was nothing else surrounding it, I can’t think of a more rewarding job to do."