Oti Mabuse

Mabuse was born in Pretoria, South Africa, and studied civil engineering at university[7] before embarking on a career in professional ballroom dancing. Her elder sister, Motsi Mabuse, is also a professional ballroom dancer. Oti has participated in the German series Let's Dance both as a professional dancer and as a judge, and as a professional dancer in Britain's Strictly Come Dancing.

Mabuse won the South African Latin American Championship eight times, after which she moved to Germany to broaden her dancing horizons. She has earned a number of titles in her dancing career; including:[2]

• third place in World Cup Freestyle Latin in 2014,
• second place European Championship Latin in 2014 and
• first place in German Championship PD Freestyle Latin.

In 2015, Mabuse appeared as a professional dancer on the eighth season of Let's Dance, the German version of Strictly Come Dancing.

She was partnered with singer Daniel Küblböck. The couple were eliminated in week 9, finishing in sixth place.

In 2016, Mabuse returned as a professional dancer for the ninth season of Let's Dance. She was partnered with television presenter Niels Ruf. The couple were the first to be eliminated in week 2, leaving in 14th place.

Highest and lowest scoring performances per dance

In 2015, Mabuse appeared as a professional on the 13th series of Strictly Come Dancing. She was partnered with Olympic boxer Anthony Ogogo. The couple were eliminated in Week 3, finishing in 14th place. That year, she also participated in the Children in Need and Christmas specials of the show, in which she partnered with actors Jack Ashton and Tom Chambers respectively.

In 2016, Mabuse was partnered with former Hollyoaks actor Danny Mac for the show's 14th series. The couple reached the final and finished as runners-up. For the show's 15th series in 2017, she was partnered with Paralympic sprinter Jonnie Peacock, they were eliminated in Week 9 in 8th place. She was paired with England cricketer Graeme Swann for the show's 16th series, they were eliminated in Week 10 in 7th place.

In 2019, for her fifth stint on the show, she was partnered with former Emmerdale actor Kelvin Fletcher, who replaced her originally announced partner, Made in Chelsea star Jamie Laing, who had to withdraw from the show after sustaining a foot injury when dancing on the launch show. They went on to become the winners of the series. Laing was confirmed as a contestant for the eighteenth series the following year, but was re-partnered with fellow professional Karen Hauer. For series 18, she was partnered with comedian and actor, Bill Bailey, reaching the final and became series winners, with Mabuse becoming the second pro to win the show twice (the other being Aliona Vilani who won series 9 and series 13) and the only pro to win twice in succession.

Mabuse took part in the national Strictly Come Dancing - The Live Tour in 2017 with her celebrity partner Danny Mac. They were voted the winners of more individual shows than any other couple by the audience.

In August 2017, Mabuse and Ian Waite announced a 60-date 2018 UK tour An Audience With.[8][9] She was a contestant on an episode of Tipping Point: Lucky Stars in 2017.

In October 2018, Mabuse announced she would be teaching at Donahey's Dancing with The Stars Weekends in 2019.[10]

In 2019, Mabuse became a dance captain on The Greatest Dancer, alongside Cheryl, Matthew Morrison and later Todrick Hall.

In 2019, Mabuse was a contestant on Celebrity MasterChef 2019.

In 2020, Mabuse will be the new host of Boogie Beebies.[11]

In 2020, Mabuse was a contestant on the Christmas Special of Michael McIntyre's The Wheel.

In 2014, Mabuse married Romanian dancer Marius Lepure, whom she met in Germany.[12] They currently live in London after moving there from Germany in 2015.[5]

• Mabuse, Motsi (2014). Chili im Blut: Mein Tanz durchs Leben (in German). Ehrenwirth Verlag. ISBN 978-3-431-03913-9.