Happiful March 2020

“I spend every single day with him,
mostly because his girlfriend isn’t
with us. He hangs on to me for dear
life but, the truth is, we need each
other!” says Johannes, who joined
Strictly in 2018, but enjoyed his first
celebrity pairing in 2019 when he
and former Coronation Street actress
Catherine Tyldesley coupled up.
They lit up the dance floor until
week six.
Touring with the Strictly pros,
enthuses Johannes, is “like being on
holiday with your best mates” and
even though many have secured
lucrative gigs outside the hit BBC1
show – such as Oti Mabuse on The
Greatest Dancer, and AJ Pritchard
who joined RuPaul’s Drag Race UK
as a dance coach – he insists there is
never jealousy between the cast.
“The pie’s big enough for
everybody. We don’t live in the
competitive world anymore. Not to
say that the competition isn’t rife
when we come to Strictly, because
we all want to win, but we’re all
different. We all have our qualities.
It’s so nice amongst the pros.
They’re all kind. It’s been so great.”
Now 32, Johannes finds himself at
a fascinating moment in his career,
and has every reason to be cheerful.
For one, he is finally at home in
his own skin. Three months before
we meet, a fortnight before he
and Graziano danced in the show’s
first same-sex routine, Johannes
slayed a pro dance sequence,
performing to ‘Fame’ in a pair of
high-heeled PVC boots. It set the
Twittersphere ablaze, with Strictly
fans commending him for breaking
the mould of gender stereotypes.
It also, he says, attracted a flurry of
praise from “older gay men” who
“identified with the boldness and
the confidence”.
“That was my coming out party
to the world,” grins Johannes,
revealing that when show bosses
proposed the idea he agreed, not to
publicly shout about being openly
gay, but to educate his extended
family back home. While Johannes
has “always known” he is gay and
never hidden his sexuality, he says
some relatives were still asking at
family functions when he would
“come home with a wife and kids”.
Johannes, who concedes that in
Africa there is a generational gap of
LGBTQ+ education and acceptance,
sighs. “It’s a reality, but we live
in such progressive times, and I
realised there’s no need to hide any
more,” he says. “The world has been
ready, all I had to do was embrace
who I am fully, fully, fully, because
that was always my fear – that sense
of rejection, that feeling of ‘if I do
this, what if somebody mocks me?
I don’t want to bring shame to my
family.’ It took me 32 years to finally
accept that and say, ‘Honestly, this is
my life.’”
Johannes believes historically
there’s been insufficient media
representation of LGBTQ+
minorities, but has observed
an improvement over the past
two years. He was “inspired” by
groundbreaking US series Pose,
which delves into the New York City
ballroom scene at the height of the
AIDS crisis, and accepts credit for
his own role in the acceptance of
greater diversity within society.
“I’m the change. Honestly, I see it
like that. I’m the first gay black man
on Strictly. I just think, good for you
Johannes. I’m proud!”
In the last series of the Danish
version of Strictly, a male duo
emerged victorious, and Steps
singer Ian ‘H’ Watkins and pro
The world has been
ready, all I had to
do was embrace
who I am fully,
because that was
always my fear
skater Matt Evers were paired on
this year’s Dancing On Ice. Surely it’s
time for Strictly to regularly feature
same sex couples, and to hell with
the armchair critics (Johannes
and Graziano’s dance attracted 189
complaints to Ofcom)?
“Out of how many million
viewers?” says Johannes, instantly
putting the protest into perspective.
“It’s good that the BBC have started.
Whenever they are ready to make
that step, they should know there’s
representation.”
For Johannes, who never thought
he would “have a voice”, being
a respected public figure is a
responsibility he cherishes. He’s
actively planning to align with
a LGBTQ+ youth charity, and is
intent on making a difference to
vulnerable youngsters’ lives.
“I hope with my actions I’m
breaking barriers, and bringing
comfort and assurance that it’s OK,”
he says. “Life gets better.”
Which is true. Johannes and his
elder sister Pearl grew up in the
small South African township of
Zamdela, raised by their mother
Jacobeth, and dad Benjamin.
Curiously, as he describes the
“very real struggle” of a “lack
of opportunity and finances”,
Johannes smiles. >>>
18 • happiful.com • March 2020