Strictly Come Dancing’s Motsi Mabuse to be ‘firm but fun’ judge

Motsi Mabuse will be a "firm but fun" judge and won’t favour her sister Oti Mabuse.
‘Strictly Come Dancing’ head judge Shirley Ballas believes her new fellow panellist will deliver plenty of constructive criticism to the celebrities and their pro partners when she makes her debut on the panel later this year, and insists she will show no favouritism towards her sibling, who is a dancer on the series.
She said: "I feel as though she will judge without fear or favour – it’s always a question about her sister and her being in the show but I know her integrity and her family and it’s just second to none. She’s amazing.
"She’s firm but fun – she says it as it is, she’ll deliver them a message every week so they can improve. She’s not a harsh person, she’s really very loveable."
And Shirley admits she gets on so well with the 38-year-old dancer, who is the "funniest person" she has ever met.
She added to Mirror Online: "Her inside is as beautiful as her outside and she has got to be the funniest person I’ve ever met in my entire life.
"So her sense of humour, my sense of humour really goes well together you know."
While she is yet to take her place on the panel, Motsi has already had to make an apology – to the town of Blackpool, after previously describing the place as the "ugliest" she had ever seen.
Writing in her autobiography, she said: "Every dancer knows the town, which is the ugliest that I had ever seen."
But she has now back-tracked on her comments, insisting the seaside town – which she first visited in 1988 – is "different" to her native South Africa.
She told The Sun newspaper: "Oh come on guys give a girl a break! It was 20 years ago I was young and innocent.
"Blackpool is absolutely huge in ‘Strictly’ but when you come from South Africa and you have your first impressions and you arrive in Blackpool, well it’s different.
"It’s different let’s put it that way. But what I’ll also say, if you walk into the ballroom it’s absolutely spectacular."
Every year, a ‘Strictly’ show is broadcast from the famous Blackpool Tower Ballroom, with many celeb contestants keen to stay in the competition to be able to perform at the iconic venue.