‘I’m watching her suffer‘: Shirley Ballas on how her mum’s illness inspired ’remarkable’ RHS Chelsea garden collab
It’s no secret that Strictly Come Dancing’s Shirley Ballas and her mum, Audrey, share a close bond. The judge often shares details about their relationship, particularly since they’ve been living together. More recently, the star has been open about her mum’s experience with chronic illness, which she has been living with for the past four years. Now, Shirley has revealed how her mum’s experience has inspired her latest collaboration with a very special RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden.
‘I n 2022, my mother got diagnosed with COPD; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Took me a year to learn [to say] that,’ Shirley told Good Housekeeping from the The Breathing Space garden at RHS Chelsea on Monday (18 May). She said that the inspiration behind her partnership with the garden this year, had been her mum’s illness.
Dave J Hogan
‘I’m watching her suffer. I’d never heard of the disease before 2022,’ said Shirley. ‘ I wanted to join with Sanofi and the Breathe Equal campaign to get the word out there and to different pockets in the country. [My mum and I] had easy access to treatment, but there are lots of places throughout the country that have no access at all to get any treatment, so it’s really about just getting the word out on COPD.’ Shirley added had been ‘a delight to be here with Asthma + Lung UK doing this garden today. It’s been a real treat.’
The Breathing Space garden has been designed by previous gold medal winner Angus Thompson, who said in the garden brochure that he wanted, ‘this garden to raise awareness of the invisible impact of breathlessness’ as ‘one in five people in the UK will develop a lung condition in their lifetime’.
Throughout the garden, there are key design details that reference this theme. ‘We have to mention the lungs [sculpture] over there, and the base that it’s on is coal,’ Shirley told GH. ‘A lot of people got lung diseases when they worked in the mining industry years ago. So I thought that was really creative.’ As well as the sculpture, there are seated areas around the garden referred to as ‘pause points’, which allow visitors to ‘take a breath’ and enjoy the scenery. At the centre, is a large multi-purpose platform for gentle activity and rest, and the garden is all supported by a structure of recycled oxygen cylinders.
There are also a number of different plants, flowers and trees, as well as a water feature. ‘ I love the trees, they remind me a little bit of a bonsai tree, similar to those in Japan. And I love the waterfall because I think water represents peace,’ said Shirley. ‘This whole space is just remarkable.’
MORE FROM THE STARS
