Johannes Radebe

© Ollie Rosser

Born in the township Zamdela Sasolburg, South Africa, Johannes Radebe started dancing when he was seven.  At the age of 21, Johannesleft South Africa to work on the internationally renowned Italian cruise liner Costa and in 2018, he was invited to join the debut season of the international hit show, Dancing With The Stars, in South Africa.

Johannes toured the world in the international dance show Burn The Floor before being headhunted by Strictly Come Dancing.  He moved to the UK to dance on the flagship BBC show.  In his second series, he was partnered with Catherine Tyldesley and danced the first same-sex routine with fellow Strictly star Graziano Di Prima.  In 2020 he danced with actress Caroline Quentin and in 2021, he and his celebrity partner, John Waite, made history by being the first all-male partnership to compete on the show. The pair made it to the final and recently won the British LGBT Award for Media Moment of the Year. In 2022, he was partnered with comedian and actress Ellie Taylor, and made it to the semi-finals in the sixth series with partner Annabel Croft in 2023.

He will tour the UK and Ireland with Kinky Boots across 2025.

2022 saw his film choreography debut with the feature Pretty Red Dress (Teng Teng Films, in collaboration with the BFI, BBC Film, and the Sundance Institute) which premiered at London Film Festival. In 2023, he also was asked to be a Co-Producer on the Olivier nominated A Strange Loop at The Barbican.

His first book Jojo: Finally Home was published on 7 September 2023 and became a Sunday Times best-seller. It was recently announced that South African film company Arrested Industries run by Anthony Kimble, and Oscar nominated Helena Spring Films, have optioned Jojo: Finally Home for a film, with further details to come.

His debut solo UK tour Freedom and follow up show Freedom Unleashed sold out across the UK including a week in London’s West End at the Peacock Theatre. He is currently on tour with this third show: House of Jojo, which includes performances at the London Palladium.

Johannes was invited to Buckingham Palace to give the keynote speech for The Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme, to award the Gold Award winners for the first time since the pandemic. He returned to the Palace after a personal invitation from King Charles III and The Queen Consort to The State Banquet for The President of South Africa – a true honour for a boy from Zamdela. In 2024, he lead a dance workshop at Buckingham Palace for volunteers from The Royal Voluntary Service which was attended by Queen Camilla. Johannes presented her majesty with a pair of tap shoes.