Strictly Come Dancing judge Motsi Mabuse's secret heartache over brother's tragic death

Strictly Come Dancing viewers are used to seeing Motsi Mabuse with a smile on her face and looking as fabulous as ever, but behind the scenes the judge has been dealing with heartache.

The BBC One star’s half-brother Neo died by suicide at the age of 18, while she and sister Oti Mabuse were growing up in the South African township of Mabopane, near the capital Pretoria.

Not only did the family have to deal with the devastating loss, but they were also ostracised by superstitious locals who believed they would receive bad luck if they associated with anyone from Motsi’s family.

Speaking about the tragedy previously, she revealed: “He killed himself with a poison. And because the people of Africa are very religious and superstitious, something bad arose in our neighbourhood. With the suicide of Neo, our family was seen as one where there was a negative energy.

“Because of this rumour, no one came to us any more, because it was feared that the bad energy applied to the visitor.”

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Motsi was unable to comprehend just why Neo decided to take his own life, but cited that he still remembered when the family lived in poorer circumstances and he struggled to adjust when they went up in the world.

Born when their mum Dudu was still a teenager, he had a different father to Oti, Motsi and middle sister Phemelo.

The young mum and baby lived with her mother and clergyman father in Kraalhoek, in South Africa’s North West province, until she met young ­lawyer Peter Mabuse and then became pregnant with Motsi.

With her father’s encouragement they married, but in the early days were so poor they had to live with an aunt in Mmabatho, a two-hour drive away.

A year later in 1982, when Phemelo was born, the family moved 150 miles away to the township of Mabopane where they lived in relative comfort. Peter’s legal career went from strength to strength and today he is a High Court judge in Pretoria.

Explaining what life was like for her brother in her book, Chili in the Blood: My Dance Through Life, she admitted: “He still remembered the cramped life, which for us younger siblings was more of a narrative than a truly experienced reality.”

She continued: “I think all the changes had overwhelmed him a little bit, everything had seemed difficult to him.

“He had gone to a private school, but he had surrounded himself with people you might call ‘false friends.’ It was a tough time for all of us, but especially for my mum.”

Motsi joined the Strictly judging panel in 2019, replacing Darcey Bussell, four years after her sister Oti joined the show as a professional dancer.

She currently serves on the panel with Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood and is loved by viewers for her kindness for the celebrities while also providing constructive criticism in order to help them improve.

Strictly Come Dancing airs tonight (Saturday) at 6:05pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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