Motsi Mabuse

“There's no stopping same-sex dancing couples. I don't understand how people being happy can affect others so much - just let them be.”

“I don't want my daughter to ever feel that she can't do something because of her skin colour.”

“I've learnt to not look that deeply into what people say as it's mostly a reflection of themselves.”

“I'm so thankful for dance because if I had grown up with just the bitterness of the very hard childhood we had, and I'd never 'experienced the love of the dance world, then I probably would have been a very sad person.”

“I'm not the kind of judge where you get away with everything, because I know my basics. But I'm the judge where, if you emotionally capture me, then you've got me, I'm in your team.”

“I respect traditions, you can't walk all over them, but at the same time our world is changing. Life is about moving on.”

“The world of dance is where I felt accepted as a human being.”

“Once you've been in the public eye, you are always going to be criticised.”

“People only go by looks. If you have big breasts it doesn't mean that you are dumb.”

“I think a person of colour in any situation should be qualified to do the job. Not just because of the colour of their skin.”

“I always say to my friends and my family, 'Let us live in a space that if we never see each other again we don't have bad energy there.'”

“I've learnt the power of words. I've had the worst thrown at me.”

“Blackpool is absolutely huge in Strictly but when you come from South Africa and you have your first impressions and you arrive in Blackpool, well it's different. It's different let's put it that way. But what I'll also say, if you walk into the ballroom it's absolutely spectacular.”

“In a way, it is easier to be the younger sibling, as the older one has to pave the way.”

“I'd always dreamed of a fairytale wedding.”

“I try to see the lightness of life, and that comes from having a hard time growing up.”

“Growing up in a system that tells you just because of your skin colour you are not good enough - you learn at a very young age to toughen up.”

“You'll always have someone attacking you in some way. But it's weird from someone who's never met you.”

“My daughter does not travel with me. She has a much more stress-free life at home with her daddy.”

“I have learned that it's OK for me to say no to things.”