Strictly awkward
BBC unveils the new judge to replace Darcey Bussell... big sister of show’s pro-dancer Oti (who she’ll be scoring)
RELATIONS could become a little strained on the next series of Strictly Come Dancing – after a new judge was appointed who is the sister of one of the star dancers.
The BBC announced yesterday that champion dancer Motsi Mabuse will take over from the departing Dame Darcey Bussell. While the South African- born dancer is little known in Britain, the same is not true of her younger sister Oti Mabuse, who has been one of Strictly’s most popular professionals since joining the show in 2015.
It will be the first time in the series’ history that a judge and a professional dancer have been related. That might lead some fans to worry about a conflict of interest or that Motsi will feel obliged to judge her sister more severely than other contestants.
But the good news is that for two years the pair worked together smoothly on the German version of Strictly, called Let’s Dance, where they had the same roles.
Motsi, 38, a former South African champion and German Latin champion, has promised to bring her ‘own bit of sparkle’ when she joins Shirley Ballas, Bruno Tonioli and Craig Revel Horwood on the judging panel for the 17th series of Strictly this autumn.
‘I am absolutely thrilled and overjoyed to be joining the BBC Strictly judging panel,’ she said.
‘I have so much respect and admiration for the other three judges and hope to add my own bit of sparkle to the show. I can’t wait to get started.’
She added: ‘I couldn’t do all this without the support of my husband, my family and my dance school team. Exciting times ahead.’
Sister Oti, 28, showed her own excitement at the announcement by referencing the show’s theme tune on Twitter, writing: ‘Yayyyy! Da da da dadada daaaaa – da dada da da.’
Oti herself had been among those rumoured to be in the running to replace ballerina Dame Darcey, but she repeatedly said she wanted to remain a professional dancer.
‘It’s not a job or a title that I ever really wanted. The person who gets it has to have years of experience and know what they are doing,’ she said.
The girls and their sister Phemelo grew up outside Pretoria, South Africa, where their father Peter was a lawyer and mother Dudu a nursery school teacher. Their mother was the driving force behind the Mabuse sisters’ love of dancing, setting up a dance studio because there were none available for her daughters to attend.
While Motsi has said her childhood was comfortable, she has spoken of having to use a community minibus to travel to her convent school because she wasn’t allowed on ‘white’ public transport and of occasions when riots would mean a ban on leaving the house. Tragedy also touched the siblings’ childhood when their older halfbrother Neo killed himself aged 18.
Motsi speaks eight languages and was expected to become a lawyer when she was growing up, but after completing two years of a law degree her passion for dance took over.
She met her first husband, German dancer Timo Kulczak, in Blackpool in 1999 and moved to his home country, but the marriage foundered when his professional career ended. She says they are still friends.
She then partnered Ukrainian dancer Evgenij Voznyuk and they won the 2013 German Latin dance title. Romance blossomed and they married in 2017. They have a daughter who is about to turn one.
She will remain a judge on Let’s Dance, on which she has appeared since 2007, as the German show is broadcast at a different time of year.
Dame Darcey, 50, announced in April that she was leaving Strictly to focus on ‘other commitments in dance’ and that being on the show had been ‘a complete privilege’.
Charlotte Moore, director of BBC Content, said: ‘Motsi is a brilliant addition to the show. She is a wonderful dancer in her own right and already has years of experience as a judge under her belt. We’re all looking forward to welcoming her to the Strictly family.’