Strictly judges locked in secret ‘feud’ after ‘diva’ snub
STRICTLY Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood has been locking horns with Motsi Mabuse behind the scenes, it has been claimed.
Popular Craig - who recently branded Motsi a "diva" - has been clashing with his co-star who admitted they're "not friends" outside of work.
Insiders claim Craig was "unhappy" about what Motsi wrote about her Strictly judges in her new book, Finding My Own Rhythm, which was released last month.
In it, the glamorous German dancer takes a swipe at Craig's best pal Bruno Tonioli - who left the show last year after 18 years.
Motsi wrote: "Every year I've done the show, I've never had the same panel.
"The first year, we had Bruno Tonioli. Then Bruno wasn't there.
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"The third year, Anton du Beke was a judge.
"And the fourth year - who knows?
"We don't talk about Bruno!"
The pop at Bruno is based on a famous song lyric from Disney movie Encanto.
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Motsi also made a pointed remark in her book when describing her so-called friendship with her Strictly co-stars.
Motsi - who was a judge on Let's Dance in her native Germany - wrote in her book: "In Germany, the panel on Let's Dance has been together without a change for ten years and we're extremely close - we're friends and we hang out together.
"In the UK, everybody is very professional and we have a good working relationship."
An insider told The Sun: "It's been tense between Craig and Motsi lately and the atmosphere hasn't been good backstage.
"They're both extremely professional and so are able to put aside any niggles during filming, but they are both feeling irritated.
"Motsi shot Craig daggers at his low scores last week - knowing he'd called her a 'diva' in a recent interview - but it's all part of their acts on the panel.
"Their issues stem from the release of Motsi's book last month.
"Craig wasn't happy about what Motsi said about Bruno who was a judge on the show for 18 years, and he's holding a grudge.
"He's a fiercely loyal person and is just defending Bruno after all those years working together.
"He thinks Motsi is too big for her boots, having only joined Strictly four years ago.
"She's been growing closer to head judge Shirley Ballas this series and spending more time as a twosome, but Motsi's comments in the book were tongue and cheek and she didn't want to upset either Craig or Bruno."
Motsi joined Strictly as a judge in 2019 when her sister Oti Mabuse was a professional dancer.
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Craig - known as "Mr Nasty" who dishes out tough scores - has worked on Strictly before pantomime season starts, since 2004.
A Strictly spokesman said: “This story is completely untrue, Motsi and Craig adore each other.”
