30 September 2023 , 10:15
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Legendary Strictly star Oti Mabuse says she spent some 'dark days' crying in the shower after saying goodbye to the show.
Oti has been one of the most successful professional dancers in the BBC contest’s history after winning both the 2019 and 2022 series, alongside Kelvin Fletcher and Bill Bailey. But all good things come to an end after leaving the programme behind in 2022.
Oti had been planning her exit for a long time, admitting that she already knew she was going to leave before the previous year’s series and has spoken more about the days after her departure, chatting about the show on the All Change podcast. She credits husband Marius Iepure, 41, for helping her through it.
Oti Mabuse says husband Marius Iepure had to listen to her crying for days
She has opened up about the aftermath of his Strictly exit (Anthony Harvey/REX/Shutterstock)She says the Romanian dancer was a huge support and Oti said: “Luckily my husband again has been an amazing person who has seen the dark days, the days where I’m in the shower crying with my clothes on because it’s so hard and it’s so overwhelming.
“He’s seen me not eat, he’s seen me overeat, he’s seen me struggle with not being able to get the best out of someone. He’s seen me having to deal with ‘interesting personalities.’ So, he’s the person that’s seen the behind the scenes at the point where I’d got to where I was like: ‘I think I’m finished.’ He was like: ‘Yeah’.”
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She added: “I came from the biggest show on television. Every single human being on this planet, in this country, loves Strictly. People are obsessed. When you come from there, you are with that group, then when you decide you’re going to leave it's like: ‘What? What do you mean?’ I was met with a lot of: ‘Why would you leave? You’re happy, you're at the top of your professional game, you professional game, you won the show?”
She added: “I was really lucky at that point that just after winning my second title [on Strictly], ITV held their arms open and they were like ‘hey, come in!’ So when I was jumping, there was somewhere to land. Even though I left, there was this whole world, a new family, that had opened doors for me and that’s luck and I have to be honest about that, I have to be grateful for that.”
Explaining at the time, she said she wanted to leave at “the peak” of her Strictly success, but revealed that she still “cried for hours” after telling BBC bosses about her decision last year. Speaking to You magazine, she said: “When I came to Britain I said to myself, ’My dream is to win Strictly.′ And I have, and it was such an amazing seven years, but I’ve done what I needed to do."