Motsi Mabuse was left in tears after having to choose who to save between Alex Scott and Chris Ramsey on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ last weekend.
The 38-year-old ballroom judge couldn’t contain her emotions after she had to decide to save former Arsenal women’s footballer Alex over Chris in the dance-off because had grown so close to both contestants.
Speaking on ‘This Morning’ on Wednesday (04.12.19), she explained: "I was crying, I was in tears. I was like, ‘What am I gonna do here?’ because we are so close to the final and everybody’s working so hard."
She continued: "When I started the show, I don’t know the celebrity so I can’t be emotionally attached like I usually am in Germany, so I can do my thing and go. Now it’s been 12 weeks, I know these people, I’ve seen them on the floor, I eat with them, I drink, we go to parties. You grow and your hearts grow, and I was like, ‘No I don’t wanna send anybody home.’ "
Ultimately, Chris survived to dance another day after head judge Shirley Ballas picked him to go through and Motsi admits she finds the dance-off the hardest part of being on the panel because when she judges ‘Let’s Dance’, the German version of ‘Strictly’, the contestant with the lowest number of votes leaves each week.
She said: "That’s not my thing, we don’t have a dance off in Germany. It’s like our vote and their [the public] vote together and the lowest one, ‘Bye’. Here it feels like double the rejection, it’s like, ‘You have a low score and bye.’ "
Whilst Motsi judges ‘Strictly’ her sister Oti Mabuse is one of the professional dancers and she has reached the semi-final with her partner, former ‘Emmerdale’ actor Kelvin Fletcher.
And their joint participation on ‘Strictly’ has meant that their parents back home in South Africa have finally been able to watch both their daughters on TV for the first time.
Motsi shared: "It’s funny because I’ve been doing this show in Germany for quite a while but it didn’t go over to South Africa. But because of the connection between the UK and South Africa, my parents see it now."
"I think it really hit them and my dad wrote me the sweetest, longest message after the first show. I couldn’t believe him, he was so emotional and so proud. My dad always said, ‘The best support you have is your family and your sisters. You guys need to always keep tight no matter what.’ "