Roman Kemp says he'd want to be paired with Johannes if he did Strictly Strictly Come Dancing professional Johannes Radebe opened up about the reason he nearly quit the scandal-riddled show without any notice. Last year, the dancer was paired with former British tennis player Annabel Croft and the pair made it all the way to the semi-finals, with winners Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola ultimately winning the glitterball. However, he and Annabel almost didn't even make it to the penultimate show due to a string of personal issues.
The 37-year-old South African-born dancer said he was shocked that the BBC paired him with the tennis star, suggesting it was not an ideal pairing. He previously told Jessie Ware and her mother Lennie on their podcast Table Manners that he had lost his cousin to suicide shortly before the season, while Annabel had been grieving her husband Mel Coleman, who died of colon cancer in May. READ MORE Strictly's Annabel Croft supports Johannes Radebe over emotional announcement [LATEST] John Whaite (L) said he fell in love with Johannes during his Strictly stint (Image: BBC/Strictly) "When they said I’m dancing with her, I was like: ‘What are they trying to achieve?’ And I say that because two weeks before I started, I buried my cousin who [died by] suicide,” he said.
The dancer and choreographer said he expected that their respective mourning would make his grieving process harder and would adversely impact their partnering. Johannes, who returned to .