Johannes Radebe

Johannes Radebe (born 27 April 1987)^[1] is a South African dancer and choreographer. He is best known for being a professional dancer on the BBC One dancing competition Strictly Come Dancing.^[2]

Radebe was born in Zamdela, Sasolburg, Orange Free State, South Africa.^[3] His father, who worked for Coca-Cola, separated from Radebe's mother while he was still at school.^[4]

Radebe is gay and has spoken out about the homophobic bullying he received as a child.^[5] He has also spoken of how his race and class would count against him when competing at ballroom dancing competitions as a youngster.^[4] He and his sister attended a dance school in their local area.^[6] 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.^[3][4]

While living in Johannesburg, Radebe spent some time homeless, sleeping in the dance studio where he worked or in the back of taxis.^[4]

Radebe began his career as a dance teacher in Johannesburg, before spending seven years dancing on cruise ships.^[4]

He has won the Professional South African Latin championships twice and has been the Amateur Latin South African champion three times.^[7]

Radebe was a professional dancer on South Africa's version of Strictly Come Dancing^[8] from 2014, for two seasons, on SABC 3 and reached the final on both occasions. He also appeared on Dancing with the Stars in 2018 on M-Net. Subsequently, he joined the touring cast of dance show Burn the Floor.^[4] 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.^[9]

In 2022, he choreographed the West End-themed Rusical on the first series of RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World.^[10] In December 2022, he was contestant on the Celebrity Christmas Special of BBC's The Great British Sewing Bee, which he won.^[11]

In 2023, Hodder & Stoughton published Radebe's memoir, Jojo: Finally Home, which became a bestseller. The book is subsequently being developed into a musical film by Helena Spring Films and Arrested Industries.^[12]

In 2024, he appeared in the Doctor Who episode "The Devil's Chord", alongside Shirley Ballas in a song-and-dance number with Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor.^[13]

Between January and July 2025, Radebe starred as Lola in the UK tour of Kinky Boots, alongside Dan Partridge as Charlie Price.^[14] This marked Radebe's musical theatre debut. The production will transfer to the London Coliseum from March 2026 with Radebe reprising his role.^[15]

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.^[16] 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

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

• *Score awarded by guest judge Anton Du Beke

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.

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

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

• Green number indicates when Ellie and Johannes were at the top of the leaderboard.
• Red number indicates when Ellie and Johannes were at the bottom of the leaderboard.

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

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

For series 22, he was partnered with Olympic sprinter, Montell Douglas.

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

For series 23, he was partnered with actress, Alex Kingston.

• Green number indicates when Alex and Johannes were at the top of the leaderboard.
• Red number indicates when Alex and Johannes were at the bottom of the leaderboard.