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Privacy NoticeMotsi Mabuse celebrated her 41st birthday last year with an emotional Instagram post expressing her profound gratitude for the life she’s leading. The South African-born star, who gained fame on Germany’s version of Strictly before taking up a judging role on the UK show in 2019, shared her journey alongside her sister Oti Mabuse, who also transitioned from the German to the British series. Despite their success, the sisters have faced personal tragedy, as Motsi opened up about the loss of their older half-brother Neo to suicide during their childhood in South Africa in a message on her birthday.
Motsi and Oti lost their older brother when he was just 18 years old
(Image: (Image: ITV))
In her heartfelt post, Motsi reflected: “I am extremely thankful, that kind of thankfulness that has you in tears.” She continued, sharing her fears after her brother’s passing: “When my brother died at 18 I was afraid of life, I was convinced I would not even make it to 18. Another year I get to be a mother, a wife, a sister, a daughter, a friend and my circle of trust has increased in size but no intensity”, reports the Express. Motsi also wrote about the ordeal in her book, which has been published in Germany. The title roughly translates to Chili in the Blood: My Dance Through Life. She revealed: “Because the people of Africa are very religious and superstitious, something bad arose in our neighbourhood. With the suicide of Neo, our family was seen as one where there was a negative energy.”
Motsi and Oti have another sister, Phemelo
Sign up to OK!’s daily newsletter to get updates sent to your inbox for free Motsi continued to explain that racial tensions in South Africa, where she spent her childhood, had an impact on the family as riots began. She wrote that she knew when riots had broken out because she wasn’t allowed to “leave the house or go to school”. She added: “Then the next day, when I was back on the school bus, I could see it was still burning everywhere and cars had been knocked over. I think all the changes had overwhelmed [Neo] a little bit, everything had seemed difficult to him.” Neo’s suicide came soon after Nelson Mandela’s release from prison in 1990, which marked the start of major changes in South Africa, and just months after their sister, Oti, had been born. If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this story you can contact Samaritans in the UK and Ireland on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ieStory SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnOti MabuseAmanda HoldenStrictly Come DancingDocumentary
