Strictly Come Dancing star Motsi Mabuse has revealed the ridiculous reason she spent months being ignored by former judge Bruno Tonioli.
The 41-year-old dance show judge shared the judging panel with 66-year-old Bruno for three years before the older judge quit the show.
Bruno was kept away from Strictly in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic as he preferred judging Dancing With The Stars in the USA instead - and while he would usually fly between the two shows he could only choose one due to travel restrictions.
He appeared as a judge via video link during the course of the series before dropping out of the show completely in 2021 and being replaced by Anton du Beke.
While it is believed the judges on Strictly get on well, Motsi has explained that a hilarious misunderstanding saw her left ignored by Bruno for months on end.
She explained to Fabulous: ““I’ve spoken to Bruno.
“We’re going to meet up in December when he’s back from LA. I miss him so much. The funny thing was, I was texting him on the wrong number.
"He messaged me on Twitter and I was like: ‘Bruno, I’ve been writing to you for months.’ I was thinking: ‘Why is he not replying? Why’s he rejecting me?’
"And now we’ve reconnected. He’s so much fun. I like him because he makes me feel normal. It’s like: ‘You think I’m crazy? Wait, here comes Bruno!’”
During the interview, Motsi also explained that she fully supports younger sister Oti for her role as a judge on both Dancing On Ice, which airs in January, and as a judge on The Masked Dancer - which will be competing in the ratings against Strictly.
While Motsi and 32-year-old Oti’s star power continues to rise in the UK, there had been hopes that their fellow sister would feature in Strictly this year.
Reports back in January suggested Phemelo, 35, could be drafted in to replace Oti after she defected from Strictly to ITV ’s Dancing On Ice.
A source said at the time: “Oti is a hard act to follow as a professional dancer and the bosses have been discussing making her sister Phemelo an offer to join.
“Strictly is so family-friendly, and having Oti and Motsi on board has really played into that, so Phemelo could be a brilliant replacement.”
And despite the report claiming a “really attractive offer” had been made to Phemelo, it seems the rumours were not true.
Vito Coppola, Carlos Gu, Lauren Oakley and Michelle Tsiakkas are the new additions to the professional dancer line up for the 2022 series.
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