{"id":362187,"date":"2026-01-10T04:52:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T04:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/362187\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T04:52:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T04:52:13","slug":"oti-mabuse-im-curvy-i-try-to-spread-positivity-about-body-shape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/362187\/","title":{"rendered":"Oti Mabuse:\u00a0I\u2019m curvy. I try to spread positivity about body shape"},"content":{"rendered":"

The two-time Strictly Come Dancing<\/a> champion Oti Mabuse had an exhausting Christmas. Having just recovered from the superflu, she and her husband, the Romanian former dancer Marius Iepure, hosted at their Berkshire village home, where guests included Mabuse\u2019s sisters, Phemelo, 40, the CEO of a Belgian company that makes wind turbines, and Motsi, 44, a judge on UK Strictly, as well as partners and many children \u2014 the youngest being the couple\u2019s two-year-old daughter.<\/p>\n

\u201cMotsi was, like, \u2018Guys, I\u2019ve just done the Strictly final. Leave me out of this. I want to sit with a glass of champagne and do nothing,\u2019\u201d says Mabuse, 35. \u201cSo we did it all and it was great but now I feel like I need a holiday. It\u2019s the dishes! You see a mountain, the kids are asking for dessert and you\u2019re thinking, \u2018And now I have to do breakfast tomorrow.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

She has decided that next year they\u2019ll revert to the norm of descending on their parents in Pretoria, South Africa. \u201cMum\u2019s always like, \u2018If you don\u2019t come home for Christmas, it\u2019s not Christmas.\u2019 Well, you want it, you get it! You take that mental load.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Oti<\/p>\n

Oti and Motsi Mabuse at the 2023 Bafta Television Awards<\/p>\n

KATE GREEN\/BAFTA\/GETTY IMAGES FOR BAFTA<\/p>\n

Her mother, Dudu, a primary school head teacher, is 71 (her 75-year-old father, Peter, is a judge). Is it fair to lump it all on them? \u201cWell, in South Africa it\u2019s very different. We have helpers in the house. When I say that in the UK it sounds a bit posh and unrelatable but it\u2019s a completely different culture there.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s understandable Mabuse wants a break. Since she quit Strictly at the end of 2021 to explore myriad opportunities coming her way, she has been very busy. She has become a mother (her daughter was eight weeks premature and had to spend six weeks in neonatal intensive care, but all is now well). She has also established her own dance school, appeared nonstop on television, doing everything from judging The Masked Dancer and Dancing on Ice to going into the jungle for I\u2019m a Celebrity, becoming a regular Loose Women panellist, presenting a documentary about South Africa and choreographing various musicals. She has also recently published a steamy novel, Slow Burn.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy husband picked it up and his face turned pink! Motsi called me when she\u2019d read a snippet and said, \u2018What have you written? I\u2019m sweating!\u2019 My mum looked at it and said, \u2018This isn\u2019t the Bible.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

After so much productivity, Mabuse\u2019s plan for the past year had been to slow down. \u201cMy goal was contentment, because I feel sometimes we\u2019re always chasing the next thing. I wanted to be in the moment \u2014 whatever came, came. I had my family and friends and I wanted that to be enough. I was in a really happy place in my life.\u201d <\/p>\n

And then came a call asking Mabuse to be head judge on Ireland\u2019s Strictly equivalent, Dancing with the Stars. \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever screamed so loudly in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now she\u2019s spending every weekend in Dublin. We\u2019re talking in a central London PR office, where \u2014wheelie bags parked in the corner \u2014 she\u2019s come straight from Heathrow, having just filmed the first episode. \u201cAnd had two hours\u2019 sleep,\u201d she says cheerfully.<\/p>\n

\"Brian<\/p>\n

With, from left, Brian Redmond, Karen Byrne and Arthur Gourounlian for Dancing with the Stars<\/p>\n

Did she ask Motsi, who has now been judging Strictly for six years, for tips? \u201cI did!\u201d Mabuse starts reading her sister\u2019s texts to me. \u201c\u2018Good luck. You will be amazing. Don\u2019t be anything except yourself. Be real and honest. Speak from your heart, and don\u2019t try to prove anything. Just go with the intention of having fun.\u2019\u201d She has followed those directions diligently. \u201cI\u2019m having the best time, it\u2019s been so joyous. Although yesterday I thought, how am I going to deal with this? Because everyone in Ireland is loud, but when I\u2019m excited I get really squeaky. In my head\u201d \u2014 she lowers her voice \u2014 \u201cI was talking like this, then I watched it back, I was like \u2026\u201d Mabuse\u2019s pitch reaches helium levels. \u201cOh well, it is what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

An ever bigger job could be beckoning. Now that Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman have stepped down<\/a> after 11 years jointly presenting UK Strictly, there are vacancies for two of the biggest roles in British television. Mabuse has to be in the running. \u201cI can\u2019t!\u201d she exclaims, blushing. \u201cI\u2019m here. I love Dancing with the Stars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hmm, Dancing with the Stars will be long over by the time Strictly starts its 2026 season. The former judge and renowned choreographer Arlene Phillips has named Mabuse as a definite contender to present, praising her work ethic and \u201camazing personality\u201d. \u201cArlene? Really? Oh my God, why is Arlene doing this? I don\u2019t know what\u2019s happening. I don\u2019t know where they\u2019re at. But genuinely I feel spiritually in Ireland. Whatever happens, happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a couple of scandal-fuelled years packed with allegations of bullying by professionals and someone involved with the show being arrested on rape charges<\/a>, does she think Strictly can weather the loss of Daley and Winkleman?<\/p>\n

\u201cI love Strictly. I wouldn\u2019t be sitting here without that show. Strictly belongs to the people, and as long as the people still love it, it will go on for years. Claudia and Tess are \u2026 I get emotional when I talk about it, because they are just so brilliant. Nobody really sees the work Tess has to do \u2014 that show\u2019s live, she\u2019s making sure it\u2019s not running over. Now I\u2019m a judge I appreciate the job even more because I can talk for days, I can hear the producers in my ear saying, \u2018Make it snappy!\u2019 Then Claudia\u2019s amazing \u2026 her wit, her humour. But we\u2019ve lost judges, we\u2019ve lost pros, we\u2019ve lost producers and the show is just itself. I think it will survive and thrive. And I think anyone who gets asked to do that job is so lucky and will do it splendidly, the producers will do a good job [choosing] because they know that show better than any of us.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Bill<\/p>\n

Mabuse won Strictly Come Dancing with Bill Bailey in 2020<\/p>\n

GUY LEVY\/BBC<\/p>\n

One of only two professionals to win the show twice (with Kelvin Fletcher and Bill Bailey) and the only one to do it consecutively, over a seven-year stint, Mabuse has often spoken about the challenges of being a \u201cplus-size\u201d dancer, a term that seems ludicrous applied to the tiny creature sitting besides me wrapped in blankets, but which \u2014 apparently \u2014 is accurate in the dance world.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a specific way they expect a dancer to look. And I\u2019ve always been curvy with bigger boobs. I\u2019m African. My ancestors are curvy. When you\u2019re an athlete with a bigger chest it\u2019s so difficult. But once I came to terms with it when I was dancing, being different felt like my superpower. It helped me stick out and now I try to spread positivity to girls who might feel held back by their body shape.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u2022 Strictly Come Dancing final: Camilla\u2019s right about Tess and Claudia<\/a><\/p>\n

Before reaching this point, Mabuse tried every fad diet going, as well as gimmicks such as training in plastic trousers to help her sweat off the pounds. Now she\u2019s relying on a simpler method \u2014 the app MyFitnessPal, which tracks exercise taken versus calories consumed.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just log what you eat,\u201d she explains, showing me her phone, where she has diligently listed the likes of \u201cgin and tonic\u201d, \u201csushi\u201d, \u201ctangerine\u201d \u2014 some of the things she ate on Christmas Day. \u201cOr you can just take a picture of what you\u2019ve eaten and then it tells you how many more calories you have remaining that day, depending on your goals \u2014 if you want to lose weight or gain it, or get stronger. For me, it\u2019s not so much about dieting because as a working mum I\u2019m living a different life now. It\u2019s about making sure I\u2019m eating the right food and moving. There are no tricks, no quick steps \u2014 we\u2019ve all tried those when to fix a long-term resolution you actually have to take things very slowly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even more conflicting for Mabuse is the fact that in South Africa standards are completely different. \u201cYou get the same critique for being skinny there you get for being plus-size here \u2014 it\u2019s an Olympic sport. As a people we\u2019re so brutally honest. The conversation at home could be quite toxic. It started when the first granddaughter was born, she\u2019s nine now. Everybody was like, \u2018Oh, the baby\u2019s very chubby!\u2019 I had to say to my family, \u2018I don\u2019t like that. I am finding certain conversations really difficult and could you please not use language about weight in front of the children, because they need a safe haven.\u2019 Now the older generation\u2019s got better and it\u2019s done wonders for us all.\u201d<\/p>\n

The remarkable Mabuse sisters (Phemelo, she says, is the best dancer of the lot) grew up in the early days of post-apartheid in a township \u201cfull of drugs and violence\u201d. Mabuse\u2019s brother, Neo, died by suicide aged 16 (Mabuse was two at the time). Determined to keep her three daughters out of trouble, Dudu established a local dancing school they all attended. \u201cAs a family we tried our best. Dancing was our way out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 Oti Mabuse: Why I\u2019m doing things my way<\/a><\/p>\n

Nonetheless, dancing was not remotely considered a career. Mabuse\u2019s ambitious parents insisted she take a civil engineering degree and were horrified when \u2014 as the eight-time South African Latin champion \u2014 halfway through her course she dropped out, travelling to Germany, where Motsi was already living, and announcing she was becoming a professional dancer. \u201cThey were worried and fearful and I get it \u2014 it was risky. Motsi wasn\u2019t the superstar she is today \u2014 those kinds of things didn\u2019t happen to people like us. They still worry but they\u2019re also so proud. My dad is like, \u2018You guys are actually living your dreams overseas, you\u2019re really taking care of your families.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Iepure was her professional dance partner, they married 11 years ago and \u2014 after Strictly scouted her \u2014 settled in the UK in 2015, where they think they\u2019ll stay forever. Their daughter, she says laughing, \u201cis very British.\u201d Will Mabuse be a tiger mother, like Dudu? \u201cA friendly tiger. I want boundaries but I don\u2019t understand when people say, \u2018Your child is not your best friend.\u2019 I want us to be obsessed with each other, I want her to say, \u2018My mum\u2019s my life.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Oti Mabuse\u2019s perfect weekend<\/p>\n

Strictly or Traitors? Oh no, two Claudia shows! I love Traitors \u2014 but Strictly<\/p>\n

Dry January or damp January? Dry January <\/p>\n

Gym session or country walk? Walks, but I get more tired at the gym<\/p>\n

Dressing up or dressing gown? Dressing gown<\/p>\n

Tiger mum or free-range parent? I\u2019m a hybrid \u2014 a bear, a mama bear<\/p>\n

Last thing you googled? Swimming lessons for the baby, she starts today<\/p>\n

Couldn\u2019t get through the weekend without\u2026. My husband<\/p>\n

For more information, see myfitnesspal.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The two-time Strictly Come Dancing champion Oti Mabuse had an exhausting Christmas. Having just recovered from the superflu,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362188,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,96,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-362187","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}