Strictly Come Dancing judge Motsi Mabuse has issued a message to fans following her £70,000 legal battle with ex-husband Timo Kulczak.
The couple tied the knot in 2003 before divorcing in 2014, with Motsi accusing her ex-partner of abusive behaviour.
Last year, her ex-husband started court proceedings to sue her following claims in Motsi’s autobiography, Finding My Own Rhythm: My Story, which was released in 2022.
In the memoir, she said Timo paid her an allowance from her dance teaching and TV earnings, controlled her diet, and rejected her wants to have a baby. He has denied these claims.
Motsi had been sued for £70k by Timo, but this week, a German judge ruled in her favour following the long-running court case.
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Taking to her Instagram Stories, she wrote: ‘After almost three years the legal proceedings against me have now come to an end with the court ruling in my favour.
‘This case has been a long and challenging process accompanied by media coverage and many articles over the years it has been a constant burden and I am relieved that clarity has finally been achieved.
‘I would like to thank my family especially my husband my lawyer my team and those who supported me throughout this time now I can close this chapter and focus on the future with renewed strength.’
In 2023, Timo accused Motsi of lying in order to ‘push book sales’ and claimed he was ‘a loving and caring husband’ during their marriage.
‘She did something bad to me and my family and I can’t accept that,’ he told The Sun. ‘Now I have reached a point whereby I cannot just let things stand as they are when something is put out there in public and it is simply not true.
‘I am deeply disappointed and hurt. Looking back, I remember a very good and positive and happy time that simply cannot be compared to some of the claims about me that have now come to light.
‘I was a loving and caring husband who was always by her side at any time, when she needed help. I don’t feel I was controlling, I see all of what I did as organising and being helpful to her.’
His lawyers asked the court to jail Motsi for up to six months or fine her £250k if she ever repeated the claims from her book.
Motsi’s representatives claimed at the time that ‘no such written court order exists’.
‘It is categorically untrue that our client faces imprisonment with regard to her former husband’s civil lawsuit, or that a fine, which would only be payable if our client culpably violates a court order, would be more than a nominal amount,’ they said in a statement to The Mirror.
‘There is no legal basis for this lawsuit. To reiterate, our client reserves all rights in this matter.’
After her divorce from Timo, whom she had moved to Germany to be with when she was 18, Motsi married her new dance partner, Evgenij Vozynuk, in 2017.
The couple have a daughter and run a dance school together near Frankfurt.
Motsi will return to Strictly for the 2025 series next month, along with fellow judges Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, and Anton Du Beke.
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