Strictly star Johannes Radebe has some comforting words of reassurance for young members of the LGTBQ+ community.
“I want to say to young members of the LGBTQ+ community that it gets better and to surround yourself with people who love you”
In a recent interview on ITV’s Loose Women, he discussed his own ‘internalised homophobia’ as he came to terms with his sexuality while growing up in South Africa.
He said his flamboyancy made him at target for verbal abuse and that he had lost friends through homophobic attacks due to his ‘queerness’ which made him hate himself.
“I’m tired of people being killed for who they are. What I do in the bedroom has nothing to do with anyone else”
Johannes admitted that although he was “surrounded by love” as a child, there were difficulties around being open about his sexuality and confessed that he had never addressed the subject with his mother due to her conservative views.
“There was no problem but it was something that we never addressed, it was something we never spoke about…what happened between John and I last year really changed my relationship with my mother – for the first time, we can speak about my sexuality openly”
Johannes made history with John Whaite as Strictly’s first ever male same sex couple,
