UNDER LOCKDOWN AT HIS CHILDHOOD HOME IN SOUTH AFRICA JOHANNES RADEBE THE ‘STRICTLY’ STAR INTRODUCES THE WOMAN BEHIND HIS GLITTERING RISE TO FAME: HIS MUM JACOBETH

‘Mum taught me how to love and to make sure the people around you feel loved. She’s my best friend’

Showcasing a sequence of dazzling moves, Strictly Come Dancing star Johannes Radebe takes his partner by the hand and twirls her around. But the graceful woman on his arm is not a new dance partner practising for this year’s show but his 61-year-old mother Jacobeth.

Since joining Strictly’s professional line-up in 2018, Johannes has won the hearts of the show’s ten million viewers. Now he has invited HELLO! to Sasolburg, the South African township where he grew up and where he has been since lockdown began.

“This is where I began my journey,” he says in this exclusive interview and photoshoot with . “I was nine years old when I first set foot on stage. To have Mum with me now is so special. It’s rare to find her dancing but I know she