Strictly star Oti Mabuse may now be the programme’s head choreographer and have a decade of experience under her belt, but that hasn’t always been the case.
In fact, once upon a time, Oti struggled to balance the glitz and glamour of Strictly with her home life.
The star has told all in a podcast interview with MAFS expert Paul C. Brunson earlier this month…
Strictly star Oti Mabuse on impact show had on her marriage
Oti has explained that when first starring on the show she became emotionally detached from her hubby, Marius Lepure, due to her pursuit for the Glitterball trophy.
Chatting on the We Need to Talk podcast, she admitted that she neglected her marriage due to her hopes to claim the winning spot on the programme.
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“[Strictly] is all you think about 24/7,” she explained. “It’s all you do. You’re on tour, you’re doing other Strictly-associated shows. You’re not really 100 per cent in the marriage, because this is gold. The trophy is handmade, by the way, and you’re fixated on it.”
Oti even admitted to not talking to her friends and family during the opening years of the show.
“I didn’t communicate with my husband,” she said. “It was just this one goal that I wanted to achieve so, so, so, so so much.”
Marius, who also appeared in the interview, explained his thoughts on this period.
Oti Mabuse’s husband Marius opens up
He said: “I’m in that business. I knew what it takes to be a successful dancer and choreographer in a show like that, so it was nothing new. But obviously it’s tough and it hurts and it’s not the easiest time but you see the end of the tunnel.”
Oti eventually lifted the Glitterball trophy alongside actor Kevin Fletcher in 2019 and comedian Bill Bailey in 2020.
The star also opened up about the pressures of the programme, admitting: “In my head, I felt, ‘I’m not good enough.’
“‘I’m not good enough in my job.’ All of this pressure that I [had] – I’m representing black women. I’m representing African women. I stand for so much – if I can’t get this job done, I’m not good enough. I don’t deserve to be here.”
She added: “[Marius] came in, he got in the shower, fully clothed, he picked me up, and he just hugged me and held me. He said, ‘It’s just a job. You have family, you have friends, you have me and you have food’. In that moment, I realised that no matter how much I have this career – and I love the show and everything it encompasses – at the end of the day, I get to go home to the things that make me more. It is not who I am, it’s what I do.”
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