West End and Strictly Come Dancing star Johannes Radebe has opened up about his recent turn as Lola in Kinky Boots and his new role on Strictly Come Dancing, in a wide-ranging interview alongside his new fellow Strictly hosts Emma Willis and Josh Widdicombe. The trio appeared on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast with Richard Osman.
Johannes Radebe, who finished a run as Lola in Kinky Boots at the London Coliseum over the summer, appeared on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast with his fellow Strictly Come Dancing hosts Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe. While on the show, Radebe spoke to host Richard Osman about a range of topics, from his time in the West End to his new role on Strictly.
Between the show closing and the Strictly news, Radebe has kept busy, announcing earlier this year that he will embark on a solo tour in spring 2027, entitled Johannes Radebe: Finally Home.
Book tickets to see Johannes Radebe: Finally Home at London Palladium
Kinky Boots was a ‘trial by fire’
Speaking on the podcast, Johannes Radebe reflected on his recent turn as Lola in the West End production of Kinky Boots, answering a question from a fan on whether he would return to the stage. The listener commented that they loved his performance as as Lola and asked whether he was planning on doing more acting. Radebe was unequivocal: “Not any time soon, darling,” he answered, adding that his experience in the West End, “was a baptism of fire.”
He offered praise and respect for performers who do it regularly, calling it ‘hardcore’ but admitting that he ‘fell into this… it’s not [something he trained for], and I absolutely love it, and I’m grateful that it paid off in a massive way. But no, not any time soon.”
Radebe also revealed in the interview that he found out he’d landed the new Strictly presenting job while warming up ahead of a Kinky Boots performance in front of 2,300 people. ‘I was warming up when I received the phone call to say, can you jump on the call?’ he explained. ‘It was lovely because I could scream without any interference.’
A top-secret audition process
The interview also lifted the lid on the lengthy, highly secretive process behind Radebe, Willis and Widdicombe’s appointment as Strictly’s new three-presenter team,. The trio will replace the long-running Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman format. They described a covert chemistry-test process lasting around four months, including cover stories invented to throw off suspicious taxi drivers — telling them they were heading to auditions for a fictional gardening show called The Great Garden Glow Up.
Radebe described the moment he realised the three of them might be presenting together as a ‘wild card’ idea producers hadn’t even scripted in advance, recalling his own reaction: “I don’t know what I was doing in that room. I kept on saying are you all sure about this?’
Josh Widdicombe revealed he had to cut short an Australian leg of his stand-up tour to take the job, while Emma Willis said she found out she’d got the role while sitting on a closed toilet lid at the hairdresser’s, mid-hair-wash, so she could take the confidential call in private.
Staying impartial with the judges
Having spent years on the other side of the judging panel as a professional dancer, Radebe also admitted he may find it difficult to stay neutral in his new presenting role, particularly toward Craig Revel Horwood, the show’s longest-serving and famously harshest-scoring judge.
Recalling a three he and dance partner Alex Kingston once received from Revel Horwood, Radebe joked about the prospect of confronting him from his new position: ‘I said, I’m waiting for that judge’s debrief.’ When reminded that he’d now need to remain impartial, he laughed: ‘I know, you can say that again. I’m going to struggle.’
London Palladium, London
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