Motsi Mabuse struggles to understand Northern accents.
The 41-year-old star was born in South Africa and is fluent in five languages but has to ask her fellow 'Strictly Come Dancing' judge Craig Revel Horwood to "translate" for her whenever she is dealing with a celebrity on the Latin and ballroom show who hails from the North of England.
Speaking on the 'Off the Menu' podcast, she said: "On 'Strictly', I really struggle with people that come from the North. “I’m like: ‘Can you please translate?’ It’s so strong, and I just don’t understand. It starts with ‘hello’ and then it’s over. Like, what? But there have been quite a few from the North, and I’m always asking Craig. I’m just trying to understand. It’s not easy."
Motsi now lives in Germany with her husband Evgenij Voznyuk but went on to explain that whenever she is in the UK for work, she finds herself having to "really concentrate" in order to understand English speaks because the range of accents and dialects is so vast across the country.
She added: "You all speak differently. Every time I’m in this country, I really have to concentrate. Some people, I just don’t know, are we speaking the same language? There’s a lot of different types of accents here. I’m always fighting it! In times of pressure, I have slipped – I have spoken German. It’s happened a few times, I hear what’s going on with my tongue. And I have that South African accent. It’s a mess – it’s a complete mess.My South African brain corrects me. I can’t change it, it’s live TV!!
Tagged in Craig Revel Horwood