Strictly Motsi: My agony at leaving daughter
MOTSI Mabuse has opened up on motherhood, saying she wants ‘to spend every breathing second’ with her two-yearold daughter.
But the Strictly Come Dancing judge is still working out how to split her time between her family in Germany and filming the show in the UK when it returns in the autumn.
Constantly changing travel restrictions mean she ‘will have to wait and see’ how the international commute will work.
However, Miss Mabuse added: ‘The most important thing for me is the safety of me, my family and the Strictly team.’
The 39-year-old said she and her husband, dancer Evgenij Voznyuk, were enjoying spending time with their little girl, whose name she keeps private.
‘I love this stage of motherhood,’ she said. ‘It’s such a beautiful time because she’s learning to speak, she’s very expressive, she’s a strong girl and very cheeky.
‘There’s new things happening every day. I want to spend every breathing second with her.’
The South African-born dancer recently revealed she was often in tears when she left her daughter to fly to the UK each Saturday for the live recording of last year’s series. ‘I cry quite often when I’m in the plane,’ she said. ‘But I’ve never missed a doctor’s appointment. I’ve literally come back home for two hours to take her to the doctor and then flown back. ‘I love my job and I’m providing for her. I’m providing for my family so that we have stability. That is so important for me.’ Miss Mabuse said this year’s Strictly will look different because of the pandemic but it will still bring much-needed ‘good times’ for viewers. She told this week’s issue of Hello! magazine that her dream contestant would be US TV show host Oprah Winfrey. ‘I know she’d never do it but I’d love to see her on the show.’