Strictly Come Dancing’s professional dancer Johannes Radebe has dismissed speculation that he’s considering leaving the hit BBC show.
Taking to Instagram on Thursday evening, Johannes shared a clip from the rehearsal space with his Olympian dance partner Montell Douglas, where he emphatically stated: “I’m not going nowhere! The story isnt ‘true’ – I love @bbcstrictly and I want to do this beautiful show for as long as they want me – and the body will allow. I have Kinky Boots and other work in the pipeline yes but nothing will take me away. Love you all Jojo Xx”.
Gossip about the 37-year-old South African dancer’s potential departure had been swirling after suggestions he might exit following the current series. Johannes and Montell have consistently performed well, often ranking high on the leaderboard.
However, viewers were left stunned when the pair found themselves in the bottom two last Sunday, despite a poignant Waltz set to Whitney Houston’s iconic I Will Always Love You.
Despite the scare, the duo was rescued by the judges, who chose to eliminate Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin unanimously. Following the tense dance-off, Johannes took to social media to express his feelings about the close call, reports Wales Online.
“Being in the dance off is pretty awful when you suddenly realize the fun time dancing and laughing might be cut short with your new beautiful friend, who you’ve become obsessed with…it’s a horrendous feeling,” he captioned a photo of himself and Montell performing the Waltz.
Earlier this week on Strictly It Takes Two, he opened up about the challenges he faced and confessed to host Fleur East: “I found myself crumbling at the thought of not being in the same room with her (Montell) on Monday and figuring out a dance.”
He continued, revealing his emotional moment: “To be honest with you I cried and she was there saying ‘it’s not over, the music is not over’. That day the teacher-student dynamic changed completely and I felt like we were partners at that moment and it showed us that we wanted to be here.”
Strictly Come Dancing is on BBC One and BBC iPlayer