While news of South African dance star Motsi Mabuse’s new appointment as a judge on Strictly is exciting for many, some are accusing the BBC of ‘box-ticking’. Emmanuella Ngimbi explores the frustrations of having your qualifications ignored
This September, Strictly Come Dancing is back on our screens for its 17th series. While many of us are excited for the hot new routines and the potential for saucy backstage gossip, this time there’s an extra reason to tune in – the addition of new judge, Motsi Mabuse.
Replacing Dame Darcey Bussell, who’d been on the judging panel since 2012, Motsi will be adding some extra glamour and South African charm to the talent show. Also, as the older sister of Strictly Come Dancing professional Oti Mabuse, there’s also going to be plenty of opportunities for some cute snapshots of literal black sisterhood.
This new role is perfectly suited for Motsi; before now, she was a judge on Let’s Dance, the German version of Strictly, for nine years – and prior to this, she had become a household name after joining the show as a professional dancer in 2007.
News of Mabuse’s arrival to the judging panel excited social media, with many fans sending their praise and admiration. Some viewers raised concerns as to whether she’d be able to fairly critique her sister, who will be competing this year. However, many can rest assured that things will be kept fair: Motsi is an expert judge, who has already been in this exact position before when Oti was a competitor on Let’s Dance and she had to judge her routines – and everything went as planned!
However, when a black woman is winning, you can guarantee that there’ll be a group of others who aren’t quite as excited to see the progress. Former Dancing On Ice judge and tabloid commentator Louie Spence was one of these loud doubters, claiming that the BBC only gave her the job to ‘tick boxes.’ Controversially, he told The Mirror: ‘I don’t know her, she is a nobody, she isn’t a celebrity… They’ve got somebody of colour, which is being diverse. They like to tick every box. I’m not saying she’s not credible, but maybe that’s why they chose her.’ He added: ‘There’s all the boxes that have to be ticked now, the box for gay and other groups including lesbians, black people and Asian people. Sometimes they don’t tick the box for the show but they tick the box for the diversity or the inclusive [sic] and all that crap.’
As well as being a judge for a dancing competition for nine years and running a dance school in Germany, Mabuse was also the German Latin Champion and South African Champion in both 2009 and 2010. These credentials prove just how suitable she is for the role and how her new role on the show is far from tokenism, or simply trying to tick a box – she’s more than qualified for the job.
Spence’s attempts to dampen and look past Mabuse’s achievements demonstrate just how disregarded black women’s achievements can be, in favour of calling it her achievement the mere result of a diversity scheme. Many people reading will know exactly how this feels: the sensation of having doubt cast on your abilities, or criticism thrown at your position, despite being qualified for the job.
Take Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott: despite being the first Black woman elected into the House of Commons and longest-serving Black MP, with over 35 years of her life dedicated to politics, she is subject to almost half of all abusive tweets about female MP’s, receiving ten times more abuse than any other MP. Prominent famous figures such as Lord Sugar, as well as mainstream media outlets, doubt her ability to make decisions and publicly mock her in ways that would be unthinkable if she was a white man. Now, something similar is happening in Motsi Mabuse’s case: she has to face similar discrimination, with a fellow dance professional disregarding her contributions to the industry and casting doubt on whether she is worthy of her role as a judge, despite her experience.
Being a black woman in this society not only means you have to deal with sexism, but racism at the same time. Due to prejudice, it seems you have to be twice as good, work twice as hard to get half as far – and when you get there, you’ll still have people doubting whether you deserve to be there at all.
Thankfully, the BBC released a statement in response to Spence’s distasteful comments, supporting their new team-member. The statement reads: ‘Motsi got the job because she was the best candidate. Any suggestion to the contrary is completely wrong and insulting.’
In a statement of her own, Mabuse expressed her anticipation for her new role, telling fans: ‘I am absolutely overjoyed to be joining the Strictly judging panel. I have so much respect and admiration for the other three judges and hope to add my own bit of sparkle to the show. I can’t wait to get started.’
Mabuse will join Shirley Ballas, Bruno Tonioli and Craig Revel Horwood for the new series, which stars celebrities such as footballers David James and Alex Scott, chef and model Viscountess Emma Weymouth and RuPaul’s Drag Race star Michelle Visage test their fancy footwork on the dance floor. We look forward to watching this upcoming series of Strictly, and seeing the positive effect that Motsi’s presence will bring to the show!
Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC One on Saturday evenings
