Overview

• Speaking on Paul C Brunson’s We Need To Talk podcast released on 30 September, the Strictly Come Dancing head judge broke down as she revisited losing her brother David Rich.
• She said he became severely depressed and "very low," lost significant weight, and that the family never discovered the root cause of his decline.
• Ballas acknowledged that she and her mother still feel blame despite counseling, and she channels her grief into mental-health advocacy with CALM and through her own foundation.
• She recounted that David died by suicide in December 2003 at age 44 at the family’s home in northern England.
• She said the loss reshaped her life, including raising his daughter Mary and learning to check in on loved ones, and she is sharing the story in her new memoir Best Foot Forward.