Oti Mabuse says sister Motsi was "like a pitbull" when she said she wanted to quit South Africa for Europe.

Oti Mabuse brands Strictly judge sister Motsi a 'pit bull' after disagreement

by · Birmingham Live

Oti Mabuse branded her sister, Strictly Come Dancing judge Motsi, a “pit bull” after the pair had a disagreement.

The 34-year-old herself was a professional on Strictly, winning the series in both 2019 and 2020, but she is now set to enter the I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! jungle. Motsi meanwhile has been on the Strictly panel since 2019.

It was at the start of South Africa-born Oti’s dancing career in Europe when she says the pair had a disagreement. Oti says she told her family she planned to embark on a dance partnership and relationship with now husband Marius Iepure.

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Speaking on the We Need to Talk podcast with Paul Brunson, Oti said: “I didn’t understand what was going on. I was like ‘this is not possible and what does it mean for me and my future?’.

“Does it mean I leave everything in South Africa, does it mean I move to Germany, which is what I wanted. Will I fail?

Strictly Come Dancing's Oti Mabuse (Image: BBC)

“If I go into the dance partnership initially and want to end the relationship does it mean the two are separate? Also my dad at that point was very apprehensive, he was like ‘do not follow this man’, and I’m like ‘I’m not following this man, I’m following my dream’.

“It just happened that he was a part of that plan. There was just a lot of apprehension because I had to do a lot of thinking.”

Oti says she was initially concerned about “how many success stories” there were about young Black dancers from South Africa - highlighting her sister as the only famous face. She added: “All of them [my family] were like no. Motsi is like a pit bull.

“It wasn’t because of him [Marius]. It was because I was leaving everything at home. It took her 10 years to get to a place where she felt okay and she didn’t need to have plan B.

“She was like ‘I love you so much, this is so hard, I don’t want this for you’, so when I went ‘I’m doing it’, everyone was like ‘don’t.”

Oti and Marius both starred in Let’s Dance, in Germany. She later took part in seven series of Strictly.

Fans will be able to see Oti entering the I’m a Celebrity jungle at 9pm tonight on ITV One. Motsi and the Strictly judges will return for the Blackpool special at 6.45pm on BBC One.