Strictly star Mabuse’s ‘dazzling’ autobiography goes to Ebury Spotlight 

Ebury Spotlight has acquired dancer and "Strictly Come Dancing" judge Motsi Mabuse’s “dazzling” autobiography Finding My Own Rhythm.

Michelle Warner at Ebury Spotlight bought UK and Commonwealth rights from publisher Bastei Lübbe and Gordon Wise and Josh Byrne at Curtis Brown. It will be published on 8th September 2022.

The publisher’s synopsis reads: “From competing in tournaments round the world to being crowned Latin dance champion, becoming a judge on ’Strictly Come Dancing’ and starting her own dance school, Motsi Mabuse has never let anything hold her back from fulfilling her dreams. From the moment she fell in love with the glitterball world as a young child, watching a dance tournament whilst on holiday, she knew that dancing was her destiny.

“Taking us back to her youth in apartheid-era South Africa, where she experienced exclusion and discrimination, worked to raise money to compete in international competitions, made the tough decision to give up her law degree and uprooted her life to be with her dance partner in Germany, Motsi shows the determination, hard work and resilience it took to get  to where she is today.

“In Finding My Own Rhythm, Motsi leads us into the rhinestone-studded world of dance, through the ups and downs, the romances and heartbreaks, the obstacles and adversity, and the long hours and triumphs that made it all worth it, all while staying true to herself and moving to the beat of her own rhythm."

Mabuse joined "Strictly Come Dancing" as a judge in 2019. She studied law at university until she decided to dedicate her life to dance and moved to Germany. She won the South African Latin American title eight times and joined German TV show "Let’s Dance" as a professional in 2007 and then as a judge in 2011. In 2013 she became the German Latin dance champion with her now-husband Evgenij Voznyuk, with whom she shares a daughter. They live in Germany, where she has fulfilled her lifelong dream of opening her own dance school.