(Image: James Gourley/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
ITV I'm A Celebrity's Oti Mabuse sent supportive message as she leaves viewers 'crying their eyes out'
by Jessica Sansome · Manchester Evening NewsI'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here star Oti Mabuse has been sent a supportive messages from her loved ones who are manning her social media accounts while she's in the jungle after an open conversation left viewers 'crying their eyes out'.
The former Strictly Come Dancing star is among the 12 famous faces currently taking part in the 2024 run of the ITV reality show and has already been honest with her fellow campmates about a tragedy she faced, the death of her brother when he was just a teenager.
It was then during Tuesday night's (November 27) visit Down Under that Oti was heard talking to writer and broadcaster Rev Richard Coles about the “hell” she went through watching her newborn daughter being kept in an neonatal incubator after she gave birth prematurely last year.
Oti announced she had had her first child in an Instagram post on Christmas Day 2023, after having difficulty conceiving, and later revealed her daughter was born 10 weeks premature.
She told Richard she was not allowed to hold her baby daughter and had to use her voice to connect with her. "They find comfort in your voice," Oti said. "For two months, every single day we’d sing church music." Richard then appeared to get emotional as he remembered baptising a "premature boy", who was "only just alive", and he and Oti shared an emotional hug.
He added: "I just remember he was this tiny little pulse of life, and David [his late partner] got a pipette of water and we blessed it, and we baptised him and he survived, and now he’s a healthy young footballer, which is great. But I just felt so… it was such a precious thing."
Dancing on Ice judge Oti said: "They are (precious), my daughter was really, really tiny when she was born. It’s hell. It’s hell to be in the hospital, to hear those sounds, to not see your baby’s eyes for a week, it’s hell to constantly look for advice from the doctors."
Becoming tearful, she added that the worst thing was that "every night, you need to leave them, you need to leave your baby in someone else’s hands". Oti also told Richard: "Maybe you can say a prayer over her, I would really love that." He said he had "already said a prayer for her", and they embraced again while she became more emotional.
Following the I'm A Celeb scenes, a message on Oti's Instagram account read: "Incredible doesn’t describe this amazing mother enough #ImACeleb." And Oti and Richard's conversation quickly sparked a response.
Former Queen of the Jungle and podacast host and author Giovanna Fletcher said: "ti, you’re one incredible woman. Thank you for continuing to share your story and your heart." This Morning star Rochelle Humes commented: "Wow," with a face holding back tears emoji and a red heart.
@em123ma wrote: "Loving watching the amazing Oti! Such a beautiful person. And how utterly lovely is Reverend Rich?! " @laurencw.98 replied: "Such an emotional but beautiful moment." @pattinaray posted: "Such an amazing lady inside and out.Im not crying u are." @daniellerobinson94 added: "Cried my eyes out. Oti just publicly said what my part of our NICU journey still haunts me to this day, 4 years on...having to leave your tiny little newborn with complete strangers every night instead of being there for them. Going against your maternal instinct. Thank you so much Oti..."