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

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

r and

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

Early life

Radebe was born in Zamdela,

Sasolburg Sasolburg is a city in the Free State province of South Africa. The city is located in the northern part of the province and is the seat of the Metsimaholo Local Municipality. The city lies 13 kilometres south of the Gauteng province and form ...

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...

, South Africa. His father, who worked for

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

, separated from Radebe's mother while he was still at school. Radebe 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 ...

and has spoken out about the

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

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, Suffering, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggression, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. On ...

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

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.

Career

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. Radebe was a professional dancer on South Africa's version of ''Strictly Come Dancing'' from 2014, for two seasons, on

SABC 3 SABC 3, also branded as S3, is a South African free-to-air television channel owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). Since March 2024, it carries programming in English and Afrikaans only. History On 1 January 1982, two tel ...

and reached the final on both occasions. He also appeared on ''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, ...

. Subsequently, he joined the touring cast of dance show ''

Burn the Floor Burn the Floor is a live dance show which has performed around the world, including on Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in New York City and the West End of London, West End in London. Since 1997, Burn the Floor has performed in over 130 countries ...

''. In 2018 the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

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

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...

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

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

first series First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

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. In 2024, he appeared in the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' episode " The Devil's Chord", alongside

Shirley Ballas Shirley Annette Ballas (née Rich, formerly Stopford; born 6 September 1960) is an English dancer and television personality. She specialises in the International Latin division, where she won several championship titles which earned her the n ...

in a song-and-dance number with

Ncuti Gatwa Mizero Ncuti Gatwa ( ; born 15 October 1992) is a Rwandan-Scottish actor. After a screen Breakthrough role, breakthrough portraying Eric Effiong in Sex Education (TV series), ''Sex Education'' (2019–2023), he rose to further prominence as the ...

as the

Fifteenth Doctor The Fifteenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Rwandan-Scottish actor Ncuti Gatwa in two series and two specials. Within the series' narr ...

. Between January and July 2025, Radebe is starring as Lola in the UK tour of '' Kinky Boots'', alongside Dan Partridge as Charlie Price.This marks Radebe’s musical theatre debut. 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 Mary Ann Tyldesley (born 17 September 1983) is an English actress, known for her roles as Iris Moss in the BBC drama '' Lilies'' (2007), Eva Price on the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2011–2018, 2025–present) and Karen N ...

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

Performances with Caroline Quentin

For series 18, he was partnered with actress,

Caroline Quentin Caroline Quentin (born Caroline Amanda Jane 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 ...

. * *Score awarded by guest judge Anton Du Beke

Performances with John Whaite

For series 19, he was partnered with chef

John Whaite John Robert Whaite (born 23 May 1989) is an English baker who won the The Great British Bake Off (series 3), third series of ''The Great British Bake Off'' in 2012. He works as a chef, television presenter, and author. Early life John Whaite w ...

. 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, television presenter and writer of children's books. Deaf since birth, she is a British Sign Language user. On television, she is best known for her role as Frankie Lew ...

, 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 (2012 ...

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

Cynthia Erivo Cynthia Chinasaokwu Onyedinmanasu Amarachukwu Owezuke Echimino Erivo ( ; born 8 January 1987) is a British actress and singer. Known for her work on both stage and screen, she is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Cynt ...

Performances with Ellie Taylor

For series 20, he was partnered with comedian,

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

. * 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.

Performances with Annabel Croft

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

Annabel Croft Annabel Nicola Croft (born 12 July 1966) is a British former professional tennis player and current radio and television presenter. As a tennis player she won the WTA Tour event Virginia Slims of San Diego and represented Great Britain in the ...

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

Performances with Montell Douglas

For series 22, he was partnered with Olympic sprinter,

Montell Douglas Montell Marcelle "Monty" Douglas (born 24 January 1986) is a British multi-sports Olympian. Originally a sprinter and former British record holder for the 100 metres at 11.05 seconds, she competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Taking up bobsle ...

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

Tours

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radebe, Johannes Living people 1987 births 20th-century South African LGBTQ people 21st-century South African LGBTQ people 21st-century dancers South African male dancers South African ballroom dancers South African gay men Gay dancers LGBTQ choreographers South African homeless people