Oti Mabuse's life – big boob woes, Strictly lifeline, famous husband and poor childhood

There are few things we Brits love more than Strictly – and all the gossip that comes with it.

From judge drama to the ‘Strictly curse’, it’s a highlight of the year for many, and one of the only things that keeps us in on the sofa on a Saturday night.

And one of the best loved stars of the show is Oti Mabuse, who started as one of the professionals in 2015, paired with Olympic boxer Anthony Ogogo.

Since then, she has set hearts racing with some of the UK’s favourite stars, including Bill Bailey, Made in Chelsea’s Jamie Laing and Emmerdale’s Kevin Fletcher.

Now, she is one of the most popular judges, featuring on Dancing on Ice as well as Strictly.

But when she’s not dishing out five stars or dancing the Samba, how much do you know about the star off screen?

Big boob woes

Though we’re used to seeing Oti looking fierce with confidence on the dance floor, she has spoken out candidly about her body issues in the past.

The dancer revealed that during her first ever stint on Strictly, she burst into tears at the dress fitting due to her 28GG boobs.

She said in an interview with Lorraine: “I remember fitting my first bra and I was crying. I was like, this looks so bad and I look so massive compared to the other girls.

“Nobody picked on me for it and no one discriminated against me for it and nobody said anything in a negative way and I think that helped me and my self esteem and my nerves about being out in a bra with sequins on.”

Oti revealed that as a child, she would cover up with baggy tops – but once she slipped into her sequinned number on Strictly, there was no hiding.

She added: “All my family has always had big boobs. I was hitting puberty way before other girls were.”

Strictly ‘lifeline’

Back in 2021, Covid restrictions had been in place for more than a year, and Oti hadn’t been able to see her family in South Africa since they were introduced.

The dancer also had to isolate from her partner during her time on Strictly, and was staying in a special hotel room during filming to adhere to social distancing measures.

But in an unlikely turn of events, it was Strictly Come Dancing that gave her a lifeline. Her sister Motsi Mabuse, 39, was a judge on the panel while Oti was paired with Bill Bailey.

The sisters were able to be together in spite of Government guidelines, as they were in the same ‘bubble’ filming for the show.

She said: “The last time I’d seen my sister was in the Strictly final of 2019. “Because of the travel bans and everything, I couldn’t go over to [Germany] on her birthday to go and see her and we usually celebrate it together.

“Because of Strictly, she was the only family member that I could see.” Tearing up, she added: “I haven’t seen my family in about two years because they’re from South Africa and [ coronavirus] is currently not great there.”

Famous husband

Oti’s life with her husband Marius Lepure is what Strictly dreams are made of. The pair are both dancers, and were even introduced by another beloved member of the Strictly family.

Oti’s career first took off when she moved to Germany from her home in South Africa. Her sister Motsi picked out a selection of potential suitors she could pair up with to dance.

Marius and Oti hit it off right away, and went on to win the German National Show Dance Championships as well as coming second in the World Latin Championships.

But the sparks weren’t just on the dance floor, and the couple got married in 2014. To put it simply, Oti said: “My first try out in Germany was with this guy. We started dancing and 10 years later I married him.”

The couple were only engaged for eight months, but Oti noted that that’s the way of the dance world. She explained: “[Eight months] do you think that’s too soon? That is how the dance world works. You meet someone, you move in straight away together. It goes boom.”

Poor childhood

Oti grew up in South Africa, and visits her family whenever she can. In an emotional video, she shared her first visit after Covid restrictions were lifted, saying through tears that “family is above all”.

But the dancer has previously opened up about their family’s difficult childhood under Apartheid,reports the Metro. Her sister Motsi said on Loose Women in 2020: “You just showed that picture of me as a little girl and I still had to suppress the tears because I still feel like now, when we speak about this subject, that everything keeps coming back from somewhere we hid it right back.”

She continued: “It wasn’t an easy childhood. Our parents did the upmost that we felt love and we had everything we needed but we knew what kind of atmosphere we were in.”

Oti said that though she loved dancing as a child, she had no access to dance schools, which were segregated, explaining that “no one was teaching black kids how to dance” where they lived, the Guardian reports.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk