Shirley Ballas, the “Strictly Come Dancing” judge, can finally breathe easier. The man who has been stalking and harassing her and her family for six years, Kyle Shaw, has been sentenced to a 20-month suspended prison sentence and handed a lifetime restraining order forbidding him to have contact with Ballas and her family. The young man believed Shirley Ballas was his biological aunt and desired contact. When he began to stalk and threaten her, however, this turned into criminal behavior.
The History Behind The Drama
The story began sadly when David Rich, Shirley Ballas’s late brother, took his own life at age 44. Ballas even paid an Instagram tribute to him at the time. From all accounts, it seems evident that Shaw’s mother spent quite a lot of time telling him that Rich was Shaw’s biological father. He, therefore, had a strong desire to reconnect with and contact lost family members, especially famous ones.
Where It All Went Wrong
When one wants to reconnect with someone (which happens all the time on Facebook!), one follows the normal protocols of contact and then waits to see if the person reciprocates. The other person gets to refuse contact at that point, and their wishes must be respected on that.
Shaw, for reasons unclear, decided to blame Shirley Ballas for the death by suicide of the man he believes is his biological father. He then began a systematic pattern of stalking and harassment, of not only Ballas but her family members as well, and this is what he was convicted in court of doing.
He set up social media accounts in David Rich’s name, as well as following Ballas’ 86-year-old mother around in a grocery store when she refused to speak to him. Ballas was so alarmed that she relocated her mother from Merseyside to London.
He also doxxed Ballas on X, posting a picture of her home address along with the following threat:
“You ruined my life, I’ll ruin yours and everyone’s around you.”
“Doxxing” is when one exposes the personal information of another on the internet with malicious intent to harm that person.
The Sentencing
The judge noted the sincerity of Shaw’s belief about Rich being his father, acknowledging that was his motive. He also noted the problem was the subsequent threats and stalking, illegal behaviors which led to Shaw’s sentencing.
