Johannes Radebe has spoken about being stopped by police (Picture: BBC)
Johannes Radebe has said it felt like a ‘slap in the face’ when police stopped him simply because he looked ‘suspicious’.
Born and raised in South Africa, the 36-year-old professional joined Strictly Come Dancing in 2018.
During his time on the series, he’s been paired up with famous faces including Caroline Quentin, Ellie Taylor and John Whaite, who recently admitted he ‘fell in love’ with Johannes when they competed together on the 2021 season of the BBC series.
This week he released his memoir, Jojo: Finally Home – My Story and has been sharing stories from his personal and professional life.
One has included his experiences being pursued by law enforcement despite doing nothing wrong.
Explaining one particular incident, Johannes recalled how he’d been sitting in a car park after completing a show on the Strictly live tour and was approached by police who claimed he looked like someone they were after.
He said it’s happened several times over the years (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
‘A police van pulled up into the parking lot where I was sitting. Two officers got of the car. I said, “Mummy, they are walking over to me”. “What did you do wrong?” she asked. I felt stung. “Nothing”, I said,’ he recalled of the conversation he had with his mum Jacobeth at the time.
‘When they came over, I showed my ID. “Is there something wrong?” I asked one of them. “No, you look suspicious and like someone we are looking for”,’ he added when speaking to the Daily Mirror.
The TV star went on to consider that maybe the police were just doing what was necessary to get their job done but admitted that after having gone from the highs of performing in an arena in front of thousands of people, the exchange felt like a ‘slap in the face’.
He added: ‘Maybe they were doing their job but the fact I’d just been on stage with thousands of people shouting my name and now I was being approached by police who thought I could be a criminal felt like a slap in the face! Regardless, I wrapped up the tour oozing positive energy!’
Johannes previously claimed he was constantly stopped by police because of the way he looks.
Speaking on Steph’s Packed Lunch this week he shared: ‘I’m going to stop wearing a cap and a black leather jacket. I say that because I get stopped all the time and they go: “Oh sorry, it’s not you.” Police… I’m tall, I’m black. It’s important who you are and what you do and where you hang around.’
Strictly Come Dancing 2023 returns on Saturday September 23 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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It was a ‘slap in the face’.