Real reason Johannes Radebe nearly quit BBC Strictly on the spot

Strictly Come Dancing professional Johannes Radebe opened up about the reason he nearly quit the scandal-riddled show without any notice.

Last year, the dancer was paired with former British tennis player Annabel Croft and the pair made it all the way to the semi-finals, with winners Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola ultimately winning the glitterball.

However, he and Annabel almost didn't even make it to the penultimate show due to a string of personal issues.

The 37-year-old South African-born dancer said he was shocked that the BBC paired him with the tennis star, suggesting it was not an ideal pairing.

He previously told Jessie Ware and her mother Lennie on their podcast Table Manners that he had lost his cousin to suicide shortly before the season, while Annabel had been grieving her husband Mel Coleman, who died of colon cancer in May.

"When they said I’m dancing with her, I was like: ‘What are they trying to achieve?’ And I say that because two weeks before I started, I buried my cousin who [died by] suicide,” he said.

The dancer and choreographer said he expected that their respective mourning would make his grieving process harder and would adversely impact their partnering.

Johannes, who returned to his home country, South Africa, to mourn the death with his family, also admitted that he “didn’t feel anything” and wasn’t as excited at the start of the season.

“You can imagine when they said the partners I was just like ’OK great’,” he recalled. “I just really wanted to deal with it but you never allow yourself the time to deal with whatever you are going through in your life.

“They said we think that you’re the person to partner with this woman. I just said to myself, they’re reaching.

“I remember calling my agent, I was like, I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he added. “Maybe we should say that I shouldn’t get a partner this year because I just really need some time out.”

Annabel, however, told the MailOnline that Johannes had made her laugh like her husband and, wrote in an Instagram post that he gave her a reason to get out of bed in the morning.

The Strictly pro, later admitted the experience also ultimately helped him.

Johannes made a name for himself in 2021, when he was partnered with John Whaite, who rose to fame as a winner on The Great British Bake Off, for the BBC series’ first ever same-sex pairing.

The pair formed a close bond and John admitted last year that he spent time apart from his then fiancé and partner of 15 years, Paul Atkins, after “falling in love” with Johannes.

He rekindled his romance with Paul whom he married earlier this year.