Motsi Mabuse has insisted she’ll be judging her sister Oti fairly when she joins the Strictly Come Dancing panel next month.
It was recently revealed that Motsi will be taking over from Darcey Busell as the new judge on Strictly when it returns to our screens in September, which raised eyebrows for some fans when they realised that this meant she’d be scoring her own sister, Oti.
While some speculated this put Oti at an advantage, Motsi has told BBC News that she’ll be taking her judging role seriously, and won’t let her family ties affect her score.
“I think, for me, it’s about professionalism,” she said. “I’m not judging Oti, because I know my sister is a brilliant dancer, like all the other dancers on the show. It’s not about them. It’s about the celebrity learning to dance.
“There is a word in German, called gerechterweise, which means fairness. I need to be fair, it’s just the part of my personality. So if I feel like I’m [showing favouritism] to Oti, it’s not fair for Oti, it’s not fair for me, and it’s not fair for the other celebrities.”
She added: “If Oti should win or something, it’s important that she has a feeling that she did it on her own and not because her big sister gave her a five point lead. She would feel proud of herself. And that’s very important for me.
“I’m aware that people are always going to have something to say about it. But we are quite clear, and the matter has been spoken about.”
Similarly, Motsi also told The Sun: “One of the main points everywhere in my life is fairness. Coming from South Africa and being treated unfairly all your life because of your skin colour, that’s been a huge point.
“I really need to be fair and [Oti]’ll get what everybody else is getting... I don’t think anybody should be bigger than the show and it’s important that everybody is very professional.”
It was previously pointed out by a Strictly rep that Motsi has already served as a judge on Let’s Dance, the German version of Strictly, on which Oti is also a professional, for many years.
This year’s series of Strictly launches next weekend, with 15 new celebrities gearing up to make their dance floor debut.
Get to know the new stars a bit better below...
