Is Motsi Mabuse married and what is the Strictly Come Dancing judge’s net worth?

Strictly Come Dancing 2022 may now be over, with wildlife cameraman and CBBC's Ranger Hamza Yassin lifting the glitterball in victory last night, but fans are still keen to know more about the show's judges; specifically Motsi Mabuse.

Motsi Mabuse joined Strictly Come Dancing as a judge back in 2019, replacing ballet dancer Darcey Bussell to sit alongside Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood and Anton Du Beke. Mabuse may not have been a household name in the UK when she first debuted on the show, but the dance champion was more than qualified to take her seat on the panel.

After finding great success as a professional dancer, Motsi appeared on Let’s Dance, the German version of BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing, finding fame as one of the show's professional dancers and later appearing on the show as a judge. She also judged a number of other dance shows before joining the Strictly Come Dancing panel.

Alongside her work in television, Motsi runs a dance school near Frankfurt. While the dancer was born in South Africa, she moved to Germany in 2000 to further her career as a ballroom dancer and opened the doors to her dance school in 2017 after 4 years of planning. 

The school offers classes in dances including hip hop, ballet, afro beats and jazz and has received rave reviews. One person wrote on their website, "Great people, incredibly atmospheric events with captivating music and effective lessons that never lack humour. Motsi and Evgenij are an incredible (dance) couple full of energy that moves everyone."

Is Motsi Mabuse married?

Motsi Mabuse is married to Ukrainian dancer, Evgenij Voznyuk. The couple met through dance and were dancing partners before they married in a small legal ceremony. A more elaborate celebration took place in 2017.

Speaking about her family's Christmas plans for this year, Motsi told the Guardian, "We’re all so excited, we might burst into flames. We’re reuniting the whole family in South Africa for the first time in eight years. I fly out after the Strictly final. We’re all on a countdown and ready to party.

"Because it’s a family reunion, we decided to have no stress and go to a restaurant. We’ll dress up and be all fancy for our parents. And nobody has to wash up afterwards. Then on the 27th, we’re having the big, big family party. It’s going to be noisy. I would not suggest anyone comes uninvited or unprepared."

Evgenij is Motsi's second husband. The Strictly judge was first married in 2003 to her then dance partner, Timo Kulczak. The pair met at the British Open Championships in Blackpool and married in 2003. They were together for 11 years before they split in 2014.

Does Motsi Mabuse have children?

Motsi shares a four-year-old daughter with her husband Evgenij, but her name has never publicly been shared. Speaking about her family with Yours.co.uk, Motsi said, “The most important thing in my life is my family. I couldn’t do the Strictly role without my husband and our focus is always to raise our daughter as a healthy, happy, young black girl. Life is about being with the people you love.”

As Motsi lives in Germany with her husband and daughter, when she is filming for Strictly, Motsi flies to the UK every Friday evening and returns after the results show. 

Motsi explained her decision, saying, “It is important to show you are working. It is good for me to tell my daughter to be independent and to be able to stand on her own two feet.”

How old is Motsi Mabuse?

Motsi Mabuse is 41 years old. The dancer was born on 11th April 1981 in South Africa and, before she made a name for herself in the dance world, she was expected to join her family's law firm as a lawyer. But law was not on the cards for Motsi and she became obsessed with dancing while studying at the University of Pretoria, one of Africa's top universities.

Speaking to The Guardian about her parents' reaction to her career switch, Motsi said, "They were heartbroken. There was all types of drama. But it’s my life. My parents were strict and made us disciplined but that worked for me and my sister in dance too. It meant we really went for it"

Motsi has spoken candidly about her childhood growing up in South Africa and recently spoke to the Big Issue about one experience that left her traumatised. The dancer said, “At 16, I was living in Pretoria, and we had just moved from a black area to a very white area.

“South Africa was open, so black people were allowed to move into certain parts and my parents were always against boundaries, so they pushed those limits. They wanted a better life for their kids. That was the aim, but it also meant we moved into a very hostile area.”

"Our parents wanted us to be safe, which meant if we wanted to visit friends they would need to drive us. Because if we got the bus, big white boys would attack us.”

What is Motsi Mabuse's net worth?

It is reported that Motsi Mabuse has a net worth of around £8.5 million, according to Entertainment Daily. The publication points out that it is hard to calculate her net worth as much of her work up until Strictly Come Dancing took place overseas.

According to Entertainment Daily, Motsi joined the Strictly judging panel in 2019 on a starting salary of £200k. They then add the money her German dance school brings in, plus the income from her Weight Watchers team up and the previous income racked up from her various judging appearances, and they claim that Motsi’s annual income sits around £325k. 

Who is Motsi Mabuse's sister?

Rhythm must run in the family as Motsi Mabuse sister's, Oti Mabuse, is also a professional dancer. In fact, she was already performing as a dance professional on Strictly Come Dancing when Motsi joined the show as a judge. 

Oti Mabuse has now moved on from Strictly Come Dancing and debuted as a judge on 2022's Dancing on Ice. She is married to the Romanian-born professional dancer, Marius Lepure, and the pair are both currently involved in teaching at the Oti Mabuse Dance Studio.