Upbeat and vivacious, she’s known for bringing a healthy dose of positivity to the Strictly Come Dancing judging panel.
But Motsi Mabuse has revealed that going through the perimenopause left her feeling ‘unhappy’, ‘not comfortable’ in her own body and unable to dance with her husband.
The professional dancer, 45, who joined the BBC show as a judge in 2019, said that experiencing symptoms at the beginning of last year left her questioning who she was and wondering which version of herself she would ‘wake up’ to.’
A recent visit to the doctor also showed that she was at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, which runs in her family, as well as having inflammation and high cortisol.
‘I noticed a complete shift in my energy levels and I started having pain in my knees,’ she told Women’s Health.
‘I had moments when I thought, ‘I’m not feeling [okay] in my body, I’m not comfortable with myself.’
Motsi Mabuse, 45, has revealed that going through the perimenopause left her feeling ‘unhappy’, ‘not comfortable’ in her own body and unable to dance with her husband
The professional dancer said that experiencing symptoms at the beginning of last year left her questioning who she was and wondering which version of herself she would ‘wake up’ to’
‘I love dancing with my husband, I love moving and I couldn’t do that anymore. It was making me unhappy.’
Ms Mabuse, whose sister Oti Mabuse was a professional dancer on the BBC show from 2015 to 2022, has been married to fellow dancer Evgenij Voznyuk since 2017. They have an eight-year-old daughter together.
The South African dancer, who returns to the judging panel alongside Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood and Anton Du Beke when the BBC dance series returns next month, said she had lost control of her identity.
‘Which Motsi am I meeting today?’ she recalled asking herself every morning. ‘Is it the one who’s going to make me cry?Â
‘Is it the one who’s happy? Is it the one who doesn’t want to see anyone? You wake up every day discovering a new side of yourself,’ she told the publication. ‘That’s menopause.’
She said that visiting a therapist, however, has had a positive impact on her life and has even changed the way she parents her daughter.
‘I take everything [my daughter] says really seriously. I ask her all sorts of questions because I want to know where she mentally,’ she said.
‘There’s nothing worse than your child having a mental [health] problem and you not being aware of it.’
A recent visit to the doctor also showed that she was at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, which runs in her family, as well as having inflammation and high cortisol
The Strictly star became an ambassador for WeightWatchers in 2023 and has lost two stone, but is still haunted by being told to lose weight as a young dancer
She said that visiting a therapist, however, has had a positive impact on her life and has even changed the way she parents her daughter
as been married to fellow dancer Evgenij Voznyuk since 2017. They have an eight-year-old daughter together
The full interview is in the September issue of Women’s Health UK
She said of a recent trip to her GP: ‘We did a full-body check-up and my doctor said, ‘Mrs Mabuse, you can’t continue like this.’
‘My parents and grandparents have type 2 diabetes and I had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant, and my doctor said: ‘If you want to stay healthy in the long term, we need to make some changes.’
The Strictly star became an ambassador for WeightWatchers in 2023 and has lost two stone but is still haunted by being told to lose weight as a young dancer.
‘For me, this journey was never about becoming smaller,’ she said. ‘It was about becoming stronger.
‘Every dancer has had that conversation with a trainer who says, ‘lose weight’ and it’s the most painful thing you’ll ever hear.’
The full interview is in the September issue of Women’s Health UK.
