Strictly Come Dancing fans were surprised to hear Oti Mabuse's sister, Motsi Mabuse, had been picked as Darcey Bussell's replacement on the show. Despite their close relation, the South African star revealed she will not give any "preferential treatment" to her younger sister. "One of the main points everywhere in my life is fairness," she recently told The Sun. "Coming from South Africa and being treated unfairly all your life because of your skin colour, that’s been a huge point." She added: "I really need to be fair and she'll get what everybody else is getting - the main point is that I'm not judging Oti."
Motsi Mabuse joins the show on Saturday
"We have to speak about Oti doing her journey and if she gets to a point where she has a chance to win this and she feels I only want it because my sister is there, then it wouldn't be such a big thing for her to celebrate," the star continued. "I wouldn't want to take that away from her."
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It was confirmed earlier this year that Motsi would be joining the judging panel alongside regulars Bruno Tonioli and Craig Revel Horwood and head judge Shirley Ballas. The judges met as a group for the first time last week as part of the show's red carpet launch ahead of the 17th season this month.
Motsi is the sister of pro dancer Oti Mabuse
Ahead of her debut, the 38-year-old opened up about the horrific racial abuse she endured during her stint on Germany's version of the talent show. Speaking to Radio Times, the dancer revealed a former contestant on the show sparked outrage when he compared people from her native South Africa to "monkeys".
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"I've learnt the power of words. I've had the worst thrown at me," she explained, later adding: "Racism is very extreme and it has become worse in recent years. People are feeling, for some reason, 'We can attack.' They write some bad stuff - they're going to 'hit you with a baseball bat' and call me 'monkey'." Motsi will continue to act as a judge on the German version of the show and will commute between London and her base in Cologne throughout the show's run.
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