Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Motsi’s spotsi of bother
999 call over ‘nein’ to dancer’s nine
NEW Strictly judge Motsi Mabuse was caught up in a fracas for giving a dance show contestant “only” nine out of 10 points.
Motsi, 38 – sister of Strictly pro Oti – had been accused of giving an unfair mark while judging on Let’s Dance, the German version of the contest.
Police were called when things got heated after the contestant’s manager Alain Midzic confronted her.
Motsi had rated a barefoot dance by model Sophia Thomalla as a nine, putting her second to athlete Magdalena Brzeska – dancing in heels.
But when Midzic later challenged her at the city’s Savoy Hotel, Motsi’s then husband Timo Kulczak is said to have rushed to her defence. Midzic, 51, reportedly said: “I said her reasons were nonsense – as a dance teacher she had to know how difficult it is to dance barefoot.
“Her husband told me to shut up and showed me the finger.”
Timo, 42, later filed a complaint against the manager, claiming the row, in 2013, had got physical. German police confirmed an investigation was made but no charges were brought. Midzic said last night: “The investigation was closed. There was not, and is not, any dispute with Motsi Mabuse.”
Motsi was unveiled last week as the replacement for ballet dancer Darcey Bussell, 50, on the hit BBC One show.
But the South African could already be in hot water – after an attack on Blackpool, the show’s spiritual home. In 2015 book Chili in the Blood, Motsi called it “the ugliest [town] I have so far seen”.