Queen jokes about tap-dancing career after meeting Strictly star JoJo Radebe in Cambridge

Queen Camilla is presented with a pair of tap shoes by dancer Johannes Radebe (left) during a visit to the newly opened Meadows Community Centre in Cambridge in her role as President of the Royal Voluntary Service. Picture date: Friday February 2, 2024. Credit: PA
The Queen accepted a pair of shoes from Strictly star Johannes Radebe. Credit: PA

The Queen joked she was considering taking up tap dancing in her “dotage” after Strictly Come Dancing star Johannes Radebe presented her with a pair of steel-shod shoes.

Camilla promptly asked Radebe for tap lessons after watching the performer and Love Island star Tasha Ghouri, also a professional dancer, coaching Royal Voluntary Service (RVS) staff and volunteers on the dance floor.

“I would love to do it because I’ve always wanted to tap dance. So in my dotage perhaps it’s something I could take up,” the Queen said as she clutched her tap dancing shoes during the visit in Cambridge.

She added: “Having seen everybody here today dancing away happily, it’s the best exercise and for everybody it’s a wonderful way of just enjoying yourself.”

The Queen joined children later as visited opened a community centre. Credit: PA

Radebe, known as Jojo, led the RVS Find Your Feet beginners’ dance class in the cha-cha-cha, then Ghouri tapped out the intricate moves for the group to follow, during a tap-dancing session.

A few feet away the Queen clearly enjoyed watching the class, laughing as Radebe asked the dancers to spin round, and when the session ended she apologised for not joining in, saying: “Very nice, I’m sorry I’m not cha-cha-cha-ing.”

Camilla’s love for the BBC dance show is well known but Radebe made the class laugh when he told her: “I’m so beside myself that you watch Strictly Come Dancing.”

The Queen also met young children and their families during a visit to the newly-opened Meadows Community Centre. Credit: PA

The Queen, who attends Silver Swans – classes for elderly ballet dancers run by the Royal Academy of Dance, replied: “I’m one of Strictly’s greatest fans.”

Radebe and Ghouri led the class at the Meadows Community Centre in Cambridge which opened last year and where the RVS, which the Queen supports as president, has a cafe.

The centre provides facilities for a number of local groups and when the Queen first arrived she was hugged by three-year-old Rebecca Tessinari who was going into her nursery class.

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