Strictly's Shirley Ballas charity skydive after brother's suicide

Strictly's Shirley Ballas is embarking connected a trio of challenges to rise wealth for a termination prevention foundation aft her member took his ain life.

She volition bash a Skyathlon situation - a zipline, a 700ft helping locomotion and 15,000ft skydive passim the week.

The Strictly Come Dancing justice said adjacent though she was frightened of heights, she was "more terrified astatine the thought of losing different idiosyncratic to suicide".

Ballas said termination leaves "a spread successful your bosom that volition ne'er spell away".

Her member David took his ain beingness successful 2003 astatine the property of 44, leaving her and her parent "absolutely devastated".

She is present moving with intelligence wellness foundation CALM - the Campaign Against Living Miserably - to rise awareness.

She said past twelvemonth she "struggled" connected societal media aft being trolled.

"It does impact you," she said. Social media "can beryllium a large level connected 1 hand" but it tin besides beryllium "very dark".

To the constituent she has present employed "a young antheral to sift done my societal media earlier I adjacent get to it" to debar speechmaking perchance violative messages.

Ballas, who grew up connected Merseyside, told BBC North West Tonight she was doing the foundation situation "because I don't privation anybody astatine each retired determination to acquisition what my parent and I person experienced".

"I privation radical to speech astir the mode they consciousness I privation radical to truly scope retired if they're struggling and CALM is the champion spot to go," she said.

"I conscionable don't similar to spot radical endure 1 2nd longer than they person to."

She said Strictly had fixed her a "platform" to scope radical "who are suffering".

"People are sharing their stories with maine and it is gut-wrenching," she said.

"Tragedy is specified an awful, atrocious thing.

"Sometimes erstwhile I'm sitting successful Strictly, immoderate tune volition travel up similar Moon River oregon a tune that my member and I loved and I tin consciousness myself getting overwhelmed due to the fact that it comes astatine times erstwhile you slightest expect it, he's determination successful the forefront of my mind."

"So I privation to bash this for each azygous idiosyncratic retired there.

"I'm sixty-three and I'm not dormant yet.

"I privation to effort things and challenges and this seemed the cleanable happening for each the radical who person idiosyncratic who's struggling."

Why not travel BBC North West connected Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You tin besides nonstop communicative ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk