BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Shirley Ballas becomes a grandmother as son shares unusual name

The head judge's son Mark and his wife BC Jean welcomed a baby boy yesterday

Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas has become a grandmother for the first time. Shirley's son Mark announced his wife BC Jean had given birth last night.

He shared an adorable photo of them both holding their newborn son's tiny hand. Mark, 37, welcomed his son to the world and shared his unusual name in the caption.

He wrote: "Welcome to Earth my son. Banksi Wylde Ballas 11/5/23." Mark is also a professional dancer, and competes on the US version of Strictly Come Dancing, Dancing with the Stars.

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He joined the show in 2007 and won in 2022 with Charli D'Amelio, an American social media personality. Shirley, 63, shared her joy at becoming a 'glam-ma' a few months ago on BBC Breakfast.

Last year, Mark and BC suffered a miscarriage. They released a song, Rainbow, about the sad experience.

"We lost a baby last year," a video was captioned. "Just when we thought we were in a good place to tell family and friends, we received the heavy news that our little one wasn't going to make it. We've both been through hard times in our lives, but this was a different kind of sadness."

Shirley also revealed that she had been judging Strictly when she found out about the heartbreaking news. She wrote on Instagram recently: “Last year, whilst I was judging Strictly, @MarkBallas and his wife @BCJean lost their baby.

"What should have been a beautiful time for them both turned into sadness and heartbreak. I remember Mark ringing me and Nanny [Shirley’s mum] from the US. We cried all night.”