Strictly Come Dancing professional Johannes Radebe has made a candid admission about his time on the BBC dancing competition – ahead of the show’s return tonight.
Radebe joined the Strictly family back in 2018 and has had huge success with the partners he’s had throughout the years, including Annabel Croft, John Whaite and Ellie Taylor.
Whilst the celebrity pairing has not yet been revealed, many long-term fans of the series are hopeful that Radebe will be given a partner again after becoming a firm favourite.
The 37-year-old recently opened up about the good luck mantras he does before any show and explained: “Whatever happens, I need to disappear. I hide with a can of fizzy pop, I need that sugar.
“Just before I go on stage, I always take a minute to ground myself and remind myself why I’m doing this. It’s important to take that time off, even if it’s just to take my partners with me and get in the zone.”
Touching on how it feels to be part of the series for another year, he added: “It honestly is incredible that the show has been going on for such a long time. And not only that, it still brings joy to people. I don’t know how, as a nation, we would ever get through winter without it.
“It feels like a full circle moment, not just for me, but for everybody that’s ever been involved since its inception, from 2004 until now. I think everybody should just be proud that it’s still going. It’s just amazing. It’s amazing that it’s happening.”
Last year, Radebe was grappling with a personal tragedy at the start of the season after receiving the heartbreaking news of his cousin’s suicide just days before the show’s launch.
At the time, Croft was also mourning the loss of her husband, Mel Coleman, who tragically lost his battle with colon cancer in May, leaving the professional dancer to express his initial concern that their shared grief could potentially impede his own healing process and affect their performances on the show.
Speaking on the Table Manners podcast, he admitted: “When they said I’m dancing with her, I was like: ‘What are they trying to achieve?’ And I say that because two weeks before I started, I buried my cousin who [died by] suicide.”
Touching on his mental state at the time, Radebe added: “You can imagine when they said the partners I was just like ‘OK great’. I just really wanted to deal with it but you never allow yourself the time to deal with whatever you are going through in your life.”
Away from the BBC dancing series, Radebe announced earlier this year that he was working with producers to adapt his memoir JoJo: Finally Home for the big screen.
The film recently received a major boost after Argo Films came on board to produce alongside Radebe’s previously announced collaborators Arrested Industries and Helena Spring Films.
Producer Richard Johns said of Radebe and the film: “Johannes’ story is so full of joy and life that I found the project completely irresistible and therefore couldn’t be more thrilled to work with [producers] Anthony and Helena on bringing this uplifting memoir to the screen.
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“They are an incredible pairing, used to working together, but have quickly made me feel welcome as part of the team.”
Johannes’s memoir is the inspiring story of how he used dance to overcome homophobic discrimination during his childhood in the South African township of Zamelda.
