ITV issues statement after Strictly star linked to I'm A Celebrity

Oti Mabuse will waltz down under with hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly for ITV1's I'm a Celebrity in November

Ex-Strictly Come Dancing favourite Oti Mabuse is lined up for a stint on this year's I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! However, ITV is refusing to be drawn on the link.

As Strictly 2024 starts, Oti is reportedly set to tackle the Australian jungle with presenters Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly on ITV1's I'm a Celebrity come November - marking an eventful year since her daughter's tough arrival.

The 34 year old star bid farewell to Strictly in 2022, having triumphed twice alongside celeb partners Kelvin Fletcher and Bill Bailey, before joining the ITV family as a judge on the hit show Dancing on Ice.

Read more: BBC Strictly Come Dancing 'feud'

However, an ITV spokesman said: "Any names suggested for I'm A Celebrity are speculation."

An excited ITV source previously told The Sun Oti was " well liked by the ITV audience so bosses are over the moon". They said she could be a campmate this year.

They added: "She's very much seen as being part of the ITV family of stars and is always guaranteed to be great fun."

Oti gearing up to brave I'm A Celeb's trials is quite the headline-grabber. She would be in Australia during her child's first birthday, considering the series typically starts in mid-November.

Furthermore, last November brought with it an exceptionally challenging childbirth for her, followed by an arduous recovery for both mother and baby.

The celebrated South African Latin champion and her Romanian dancer spouse Mairus Lepure endured a nightmare when their newborn arrived early.

Their little one, suffering from jaundice, had to spend six precarious weeks in hospital hooked to an incubator.

Meanwhile, Oti also developed sepsis, a life-threatening condition where the body responds incorrectly to infection and attacks itself.

Speaking earlier this year, she said: "I think we didn't hold her for about a week because she was still in an incubator with the wires, and with jaundice so she was under blue light. And she had infections because it turned out that I had sepsis."

"What happened was the bacteria around the womb which protects your body, when it breaks it attacks the baby. So she had infections that they didn't have time to diagnose, so they had to give her antibiotics and see if she was okay.."

"The NHS, the doctors, the midwives, they were amazing... I was taken down in a wheelchair and I couldn't get up and hold my baby."

"That was traumatising and emotionally very, very exhausting."

However, Oti has bounced back and is loving being a mum. Her natural competitiveness, as seen on Strictly, is also expected to be invaluable for the trials she's likely to face in the jungle.

She's previously been asked if she'd ever appear on I'm A Celebrity and said: "If it works and it feels right then I'll do it at that moment."

Just two other names have so far been linked to the 23rd series. They are Coronation Street star Alan Halsall and influencer GK Barry.