Johannes Radebe (born 27 April 1987) is a South African

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

r and

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

Early life

Radebe was born in Zamdela. He is

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

, and has spoken out about the

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, m ...

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...

he received as a child. He and his sister attended a dance school in their local area. At the age of 11, he was offered dance training in

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

province, and he attended secondary school in the Johannesburg suburb of Ennerdale.

Career

Radebe has won the Professional South African Latin championships twice and has been the Amateur Latin South African champion three times. Radebe was a professional dancer on South Africa's version of ''Strictly Come Dancing'' in 2014 on

SABC 3 SABC 3 (stylised as S3) is a South African free-to-air public television network owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). It carries programming in English and, few in other South African languages. It has a number of its own re ...

and ''Dancing with the Stars'' in 2018 on

M-Net M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

. In 2018, the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

announced that Radebe would join the cast of professional dancers on the British

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

, although he was not allocated a partner in his first season. In 2021, Radebe was announced as a contestant on ''

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''. In 2022, he choreographed the West End-themed

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on '' RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs the World''. Highest and Lowest Scoring Per Dance

Performances with Catherine Tyldesley

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

Catherine Tyldesley Catherine Tyldesley (born 17 September 1983) is an English actress, comedian and model known for her roles as Iris Moss in the BBC drama ''Lilies'', Eva Price on the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' from 2011 to 2018 and Karen Norris in BBC ...

. The couple were eliminated in week 6, placing them in 11th place, with an overall average score of 25.5. * *Score awarded by guest judge

Alfonso Ribeiro Alfonso Lincoln Ribeiro (born September 21, 1971) is an American actor, comedian and television host. He is best known for his roles as Alfonso Spears on the sitcom ''Silver Spoons'', Carlton Banks on the NBC sitcom ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ...

Performances with Caroline Quentin

For series 18, he was partnered with actress,

Caroline Quentin Caroline Quentin (born Caroline Jones; 11 July 1960) is an English actress, broadcaster and television presenter. Quentin became known for her television appearances: portraying Dorothy in ''Men Behaving Badly'' (1992–1998), Maddie Magellan in ...

. * *Score awarded by guest judge

Anton Du Beke Anthony Paul Beke (born 20 July 1966), known professionally as Anton Du Beke (), is a British ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dancer, and television presenter, best known for being a professional dancer and later a judge on the BBC One cele ...

Performances with John Whaite

For series 19, he was partnered with chef,

John Whaite John Whaite (born 23 May 1989) is an English baker who won the third series of ''The Great British Bake Off'' in 2012. He works as a chef, television presenter, and author. Early life John Whaite was born in Chorley, Lancashire, and grew up o ...

. 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 Rose Lucinda Ayling-Ellis (born 17 November 1994) is an English actress. Deaf since birth, she is a British Sign Language user. She is best known for playing the role of Frankie Lewis in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' (2020–2022). In 2 ...

, and her partner

Giovanni Pernice Giovanni Pernice (born 5 September 1990) is an Italian professional dancer based in the United Kingdom, best known for his appearances on the British television show '' Strictly Come Dancing''. He is also an Italian Open Latin Dance Champion (201 ...

. * number indicates when John and Johannes were at the top of the leaderboard. * *Score awarded by guest judge

Cynthia Erivo Cynthia Erivo (; born 8 January 1987) is an English actress, singer, and songwriter. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Grammy Award and a Tony Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards and a Primetime Emmy Awa ...

Performances with Ellie Taylor

For series 20, he was partnered with comedienne,

Ellie Taylor Eleanor Jane Taylor is an English comedian, television personality, actress, and writer. After appearing on ''Show Me the Funny'' in 2011, Taylor has appeared on numerous television shows, including ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' (2011–2017), ''Fake Rea ...

. * number indicates when Ellie and Johannes were at the top of the leaderboard. * number indicates when Ellie and Johannes were at the bottom of the leaderboard.

Tours

References

Living people 1987 births South African male dancers South African LGBT people LGBT dancers Gay entertainers LGBT choreographers {{dance-bio-stub