Johannes Radebe had a bumpy voyage to the Strictly Come Dancing floor.
The 36-year-old has penned an autobiography on his journey to the dazzling ballroom, Jo Jo: Finally Home, which he promoted on The One Show this evening.
During his interview with broadcasters Alex Jones and Roman Kemp, Johannes mentioned the ladies in his life as his “pillars of strength.”
He reminisced how his mother and late aunt raised him with “passion and strength,” which is why he is the man he is today (and the only one who could persuade Roman to appear on Strictly!).
Johannes claimed that in his early days of dancing, he would sleep in cabs and on studio floors, and that he simply assumed this was ‘what it required’ to make it.
Johannes just lately discovered his tale was worth telling. ‘I never believed I had a tale to share,’ he said.
Over the course of a year, Johannes retraced his early steps and spoke with everyone from his former elementary school instructors to his mother.
‘The biggest thing was hearing mama talk about things that happened in the past, and hearing her admit to certain things’ recalled Johannes, who dubbed the process both ‘good’ and ‘challenging’.
Realising that as a child he had not fully appreciated his mother’s struggles, Johannes then admitted: ‘And I was just like, “Jo, you should have been kinder to mum.” Because she is just also human and getting through things.’
Movingly, the dance prodigy then spoke of the ladies in his life, particularly his late aunt Martha.
‘All of the women in my life have been pillars of strength I tell you. They led with compassion and love. That’s the reason I am the man I am today,’ he said.
He described how Martha assisted his mother leave her marriage by providing a house for their family for a decade.
‘My mum revealed that for her to walk out of her marriage was all because of my aunt, who gave her the security to say, “I will give you a place, you will have a home in my house. Bring your children with you,”‘ he revealed
‘And that’s what she did for over a decade, looking after me and my mother and my sister.’
Johannes said that he would not be a dancer if it weren’t for Martha.
‘Her passing really left me devastated and it was something that I had to really deal with, and it was hard,’ he said.
The One Show airs on BBC1 every weekday at 7pm.
