Motsi Mabuse, Strictly Judge, Responds Firmly to Accusations of Tokenism, Confronts Online Trolls Alleging She Was Hired Solely Due to Her Race

Strictly judge Motsi Mabuse has called out people who say she only got her job on the show because she is black.

In a candid new chat the South African dancer, 42, also touched on why society should stop labelling people as she opened up about the racism she still faces.

Speaking on the podcast Reign with Josh Smith she went on to express her negative views on celebrating ‘firsts’ like her being the first black Strictly judge and as it shows how non-inclusive we have been as a society.

Motsi has been a judge on Strictly since 2019 and joins head judge Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood for this year’s series.

Previously she appeared on the German dance competition Let’s Dance, originally as a professional dancer, and later as a judge on the show, a position she held since 2011.

Having her say: Strictly judge Motsi Mabuse has called out people who say she only got her job on the show because she is black

Difficult: In a candid new chat the South African dancer, 42, also touched on why society should stop labelling people as she opened up about the racism she still faces

Having her say on the doubts some cast of her experience she said: ‘What I really, really, really, really dislike is when people are like, ‘she got it because she’s black.’

‘It takes away from every black woman and in my example, it takes away my experience. It takes away my quality. It takes away everything that I have been through and marched on through to be there.

‘When you just see the label, ‘oh she’s black, you know the first Strictly black judge, the first this,’ it takes away 15 years of experience as a judge. It takes away 30 years of my experience as a dancer.

‘Maybe my experience as a dancer is not your experience, but maybe my growth coming from South Africa and going through all levels is a different kind of experience, which gives me a different side of the ball.’

She added of why society should stop labelling people: ‘I think the barrier that I think we most definitely all have to overcome is to stop the labels. I think if every time the same sex couple gets a different platform, we kind of say, ‘this isn’t a normal life.’

‘It still doesn’t make them equal to what people see as normal. So, everything needs to become a normality without saying, ‘oh my gosh, we’ve got one black person, we’ve got a same sex couple, we’ve got this,’ the labels, this is what we all really need to get over.

‘We need to just say, ‘that this is life.’ We’re not breaking barriers if we’re suddenly including people, it shows how not inclusive we were before.’

Motsi went on to discuss the racism she regularly experiences when travelling.

Team: Motsi has been a judge on Strictly since 2019 and joins head judge Shirley Ballas , Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood for this year’s series

Racism: Having her say on the doubts some cast of her experience she said: ‘What I really, really, really, really dislike is when people are like, ‘she got it because she’s black’

Fair: She added: ‘When you just see the label, ‘oh she’s black, you know the first Strictly black judge, the first this,’ it takes away 15 years of experience as a judge. It takes away 30 years of my experience as a dancer’

Giving an example she said: ‘Every time I travel, like in Europe, I travel up and down and I was coming from London and there’s passport [control] and there’s a space where it was the ‘world.’

‘Everybody goes there and there’s a space that says ‘European/German passports’ and there’s this tall tall guy behind me and he’s just poking his head behind me. And after five minutes, I’m like, ‘dude, what’s happening? Can you calm down? What’s wrong?’

‘He said, ‘It’s a line, this is the European line,’ and I’m like, ‘hello the face of Europe has changed, Europe looks different these days.’ So he looked at my skin and was like, ‘she’s not – this is not Europe.’ And you face stuff like this.’

It comes after last week Motsi accidentally revealed a family secret live on air during Saturday night’s episode of Strictly Come Dancing.

The judge, who is married to husband Evgenij Voznyuk, is often in the spotlight but has chosen not to publicly reveal the name of their daughter, four.

But while speaking to contestant Layton Williams and his professional partner Nikita Kuzmin, she mistakenly called Nikita by her daughter’s name.

Giving some pointers on their routine she began: ‘I have to say the acting part the sentiment all of that, I think it’s so beautiful. Your fingers when you dance, they look so detailed, so beautiful.

‘I just feel just as detailed as you are with other things, other things have to be more detailed.

Motsi continued: ‘The centre is too open so if it’s open it’s difficult for [daughter’s name]. I’m sorry. I just said my daughter’s name. You know I’m a mum!

‘Nikita and my daughter’s names are quite similar, sorry everybody. So Nikita can’t lead it with an open centre and the second thing is watch the feet.’

It came after Motsi hit out at her ex-husband Timo Culczak’s lawyer after he claimed she could face a jail sentence in response to her comments in her autobiography.

It was reported in April this year that the German dancer was suing his former wife, 42, for £70,000 after she told how Timo limited her access to money and even dictated what she ate in her memoir, Finding My Own Rhythm, which was released in September 2022.

Motsi, who divorced Timo in 2014 after 11 years of marriage, has since refused to settle the agreement.

It was reported earlier today that Timo and his lawyer are allegedly asking the court to jail the TV judge for up to six months or fine her £250,000 if she were to repeat her previously made claims, the Sun wrote.

But hitting back, Motsi’s spokesperson said today: ‘No such written court order exists – it is categorically untrue that our client faces imprisonment with regards to her former husband’s civil lawsuit, or that a fine, which would only be payable if our client culpably violates a court order, would be more than a nominal amount.

Oh no! It comes after last week Motsi accidentally revealed a family secret live on air during Saturday night’s episode of Strictly Come Dancing

Private: The judge, who is married to husband Evgenij Voznyuk, is often in the spotlight but has chosen not to publicly reveal the name of their daughter, four

‘There is no legal basis for this lawsuit. To reiterate, our client reserves all rights in this matter.’

The statement comes after the Sun reported that Timo’s lawyer Samy Hammad said: ‘Ms Mabuse is refusing to pay, and so the court now has to decide.

‘All we just want her to do is to retract the untruths published about him, and to compensate him accordingly.

‘My client’s reputation has repeatedly been trashed.

‘You have to threaten a penalty saying if you do it again, this is what I want in terms of money, or in terms of the prison sentence,’ he told the publication.