Johannes Radebe

Johannes Radebe (born 27 April 1987) is a South African dancer and choreographer.

Radebe was born in Zamdela, Orange Free State, South Africa.

His father, who worked for Coca-Cola, separated from Radebe's mother while he was still at school.

Radebe is gay and has spoken out about the homophobic bullying he received as a child.

He has also spoken of how his race and class would count against him when competing at ballroom dancing competitions as a youngster.

He and his sister attended a dance school in their local area.

At the age of 13, he left home to live with a dance coaching couple in Gauteng province, and he attended secondary school in the Johannesburg suburb of Ennerdale.

While living in Johannesburg, Radebe spent some time homeless, sleeping in the dance studio where he worked or in the back of taxis.

Radebe began his career as a dance teacher in Johannesburg, before spending seven years dancing on cruise ships.

He has won the Professional South African Latin championships twice and has been the Amateur Latin South African champion three times.

The couple were eliminated in week 6, placing them in 11th place, with an overall average score of 25.5.

For series 18, he was partnered with actress, Caroline Quentin.

For series 19, he was partnered with chef John Whaite.

They are the first male same-sex pairing in the history of the UK format.

The couple reached the final, where they finished as Runners-Up to winners Rose Ayling-Ellis, and her partner Giovanni Pernice.

For series 20, he was partnered with comedienne, Ellie Taylor.

For series 21, he was partnered with former professional tennis player, Annabel Croft.

Radebe was a professional dancer on South Africa's version of Strictly Come Dancing in 2014 on SABC 3 and Dancing with the Stars in 2018 on M-Net.

Subsequently, he joined the touring cast of dance show Burn the Floor.

In 2018, the BBC announced that Radebe would join the cast of professional dancers on the British Strictly Come Dancing, although he was not allocated a partner in his first series.

In 2021, Radebe was announced as a contestant on Celebrity MasterChef.

In 2022, he choreographed the West End-themed Rusical on the first series of RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World.

In December 2022, he was contestant on the Celebrity Christmas Special of BBC's The Great British Sewing Bee, which he won.

Highest and lowest scoring per dance

For his first competitive appearance in this show, in the seventeenth season series, he was partnered with actress Catherine Tyldesley.