Motsi Mabuse had a tough time with her health in 2025 but is feeling better and move positive about life and her body
Motsi says she has to not be too hard on herself and remember to love her body(Image: Ian Harrison / Women’s Health UK)
Motsi Mabuse says she has begun a health routine in the run up to Strictly Come Dancing returning. The judge on the hit BBC show, 45, says she does her best to look good for the cameras, without putting too much pressure on herself.
She said: “I’ll eat healthily, I’ll swim – and it’s not about dieting, it’s about giving back to my body. I expect so much from my body. I expect it to perform, to be a mum, to work, to travel, to dance. When I step on to the beach, I’ll be like, ‘Body, now it’s your turn.’”
She added: “I have to remind myself to have love for my body. If I see somebody with a six-pack, I’ll channel my mind: ‘You’re healthy, you’re doing the best you can for your body.’”
Motsi also opened up about the impact of perimenopause after she started experiencing symptoms last year. She says it has impacted her body and mind in the last 12 months, and she struggled to cope with the changes.
She told Women’s Health UK: “I’d go: ‘Which Motsi am I meeting today? Is it the one who’s going to make me cry? 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. That’s menopause…I noticed a complete shift in my energy levels and I started having pain in my knees.
“I had moments when I thought, ‘I’m not feeling [okay] in my body, I’m not comfortable with myself’…I love dancing with my husband, I love moving – and I couldn’t do that any more. It was making me unhappy.”
Struggling Motsi had a health assessment, which showed a range of issues, including high cortisol and inflammation. She said: “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, ‘The numbers show that you’re at risk.’ He said, ‘If you want to stay healthy in the long term, we need to make some changes.’” She also urged other women to get checked out to push to get better healthcare and not feel guilty about doing so.
Motsi added: “I have a deep sense of empathy and pain for women because they’re never going to get it right. Women are shamed all their lives and I’m not here to shame anyone.
“I have very close friends who need the help of GLP-1 and I’m not going to make them feel guilty…For me, this journey was never about becoming smaller. It was about becoming stronger. That’s my message to women: live your life. Do what you need to do to get healthy. You don’t owe anyone an explanation.”
* The full interview is available in the September issue of Women’s Health UK.
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