TV

Motsi Mabuse is the real winner of Strictly Come Dancing


Over the last 13 weeks, she has gone from a virtual unknown in the UK to one of our best TV personalities (Picture: Gisela Schober/Getty Images for GALA)

It’s been a good year for Strictly Come Dancing, all in all.

We’ve had Kelvin Fletcher’s hips, Michelle Visage’s sass, Alex Scott teaching a whole routine to a stand-in pro at the last minute, and – in a moment that even cracked Tess DalyCraig Revel Horwood unwittingly mocking Anton Du Beke’s teeth.

We’ve also, lest we forget, had a glorious increase in airtime for the fierce and fearless Johannes Radebe; and there’s mercifully been nothing to match The Great Seann Walsh Scandal of ’18.

But whether Karim Zeroual, Emma Barton or Kelvin wins the Glitterball Trophy at the end of Saturday night’s grand final, the real MVP of season 17 can only be freshman judge Motsi Mabuse.

Over the last 13 weeks, she has gone from a virtual unknown in the UK to one of our best TV personalities thanks to a winning mix of expertise, warmth, humour, style and outright fun that altogether reminds me of when Nicole Scherzinger first joined The X Factor full-time back in 2012.

Anyone familiar with the concept of Wikipedia could see that she was immensely qualified (Picture: Mike Marsland/WireImage)

And believe it or not, it’s only been eight months since her predecessor – endearingly posh ballerina Darcey Bussell – announced she was quitting.

A flurry of media speculation around her replacement dominated the spring and early summer (would it be Karen Hardy? Anton? Perhaps even Scherzy?!), but it was a surprise to just about everyone when Motsi – the older sister of pro dancer Oti Mabuse – got the job, just six weeks ahead of the launch show.

While anyone familiar with the concept of Wikipedia could see that she was immensely qualified (nine seasons as judge on the German version, and two as a pro dancer), it didn’t take long for some viewers to express their doubts.

‘She’s Oti’s sister, she’ll be biased,’ cried some. ‘She’s not famous enough to be exciting,’ wailed others. ‘She’s not Anton,’ sobbed a few.

Even celebs waded in; the most embarrassing response coming from Louie Spence, who told The Mirror: ‘She’s a nobody.’

He added: ‘Also, they’ve got somebody of colour, which is being diverse. They like to tick every box. I’m not saying she’s not credible, but maybe that’s why they chose her.’ Yes, we all cringed. We all cringed hard.

I’d gladly gift a cake in the shape of a 10 paddle to whoever decided to bring her aboard (Picture: PA)

Now, Motsi’s first full season as a judge is almost over – and she’s more than proven herself.

Honestly, I’d gladly gift a cake in the shape of a 10 paddle to whoever decided to bring her aboard.

She’s been the shining star of this series. And between her strong debut, Craig’s harsh-but-fair critiques, Shirley’s technical know-how and Bruno’s… Bruno-ness, the panel feels better than ever.

Motsi’s got the art of being a good TV judge nailed to perfection. She can be critical without being mean, entertaining without being annoying and decisive without being cold. When she cries, we cry.

She’s also got so much more in her phrasebook than the same old tired clichés that have made talent show panellists like Louie Walsh sound like a broken record for the last decade.

After Karim and Amy Dowden’s performance at Blackpool, she brilliantly sacrificed any and all tension around the reveal of the scores, saying: ‘I can’t not give you more than this 10 because it doesn’t justify how well you danced.’

In lieu of a mark of 11 or higher, she offered: ‘I’m going to give you my hairpiece!’

A few weeks later, when that same couple were about to earn the first 40 of the series, she physically handed him her 10 paddle, telling Tess she was too damn excited to take her seat after a standing ovation.

On the two occasions when the post-dance-off elimination decision has split the judges, she has – in my opinion – been in the right. She, along with Bruno, voted for Catherine Tyldesley and Johannes when they lost to Mike Bushell and Katya Jones; and she also tried in vain to save Alex and Neil Jones when they lost to Chris Ramsey and Karen Hauer in the quarter final.

On top of all that, the fact she is relatively new to the country and isn’t clued-up on all the Strictly gossip from recent years has been a gift. Who can forget when she absent-mindedly compared Alex dancing with Kevin Clifton (while Neil was injured) to an extra-marital affair; oblivious to Neil and Katya’s own media storm with Seann the previous year?

As for those concerns that she’d be biased towards Oti? Totally unfounded.

The amount of times she’s marked her sibling’s celeb partner Kelvin more generously than all the other judges is precisely once (last Saturday: She gave their Paso Doble a 10, while the other three opted for 9s). Hardly a pattern.

So I really, really hope Motsi is back for another season next year. She’s an incredible presence on Saturday night TV, and with so much misery in the country right now, she’s exactly what we need.

She’s even the angel at the top of my Christmas tree this year. She’s that good.

MORE: Strictly Come Dancing’s Motsi Mabuse addresses ‘secret backstage tension’ between judges

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