Oti Mabuse

Oti Mabuse is a Professional Dancer, Presenter and Actress mostly known for her breathtaking choreography, bubbly personality and amazing talent for creating fresh new pieces both on stage and for television. Oti was born in South Africa in 1990, the year Mandela was released, and has been dancing since the age of 14.In her time in South Africa she made a name for herself as the undefeated 8 time South African Latin American champion and selected as a dancer for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Whilst training and competing as a dancer she also studied Civil Engineering at the University of Technology in Pretoria before moving to Germany to start her international career as a professional dancer.Whilst competing in Europe, Oti became German Champion, Bronze Medallist at the World Championships and Vice European Champion making her one of the most successful South African Dancers in the world.Oti then took her talents to the world of TV, starting on the German version of Strictly Come Dancing, Let's Dance. After two successful seasons she was asked to join the original BBC version of the show in the UK where she cemented herself in just 2 series as one of the UK's favourite professional dancers. The number one show saw Oti reach the final in just her second season with her record breaking Samba and Charleston, eventually winning the BBC Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour with her partner Danny Mac with the most wins around the UK voted for by the public. In 2017 she was paired with Para-Olympian Jonnie Peacock and made it all the way to week 10 in Blackpool. Team Glitterblade were a huge hit with the audience and they became a regular feature on Channel 4's The Last Leg. In the 2018 season she danced her way to week 11 with English cricket legend Graham Swann and finally lifted the coveted trophy in 2019 with actor Kelvin Fletcher. In 2020, Oti became the first Strictly Pro ever to win the Glitterball two consecutive years, alongside her partner Bill Bailey.

In 2018, following on from The Strictly Arena Tour she toured the UK to over 40 venues with fellow Strictly Pro Ian Waite and her partner Marius Mabuse in the show Rhythm of the Night. She also received a Guinness World Record in The Strictly Pro Challenge for the most Toe Heel Swivel Steps in 30 seconds - 48.

Oti was also a Dance Captain/Mentor on the BBC Primetime Show The Greatest Dancer, co-produced with Syco and Fremantle. Her act - Ellie Ferguson - won the debut series, and Oti won again on the second series with her act, Michael and Jowita.

As a Theatre Choreographer, she made her debut on Ain't Misbehavin' at The Mercury Theatre Colchester and Southwark Playhouse, followed by Kiss Me Kate at The Watermill Theatre. Both received rave reviews.

Alongside her dancing, Oti has many other talents and acting is one of them. She has starred in the German play, Hexenjagd (The Crucible) under esteemed Director, Herr Wedel (known for his work on Titanic, My Fair Lady and Luther) receiving 5 star reviews. Oti played Tituba, the maid who is falsely accused of being a witch.

She has also written a series children's book  "Dance With Oti” , published by Walker Books, and in 2021 during a pandemic she opened a dance school with her husband Marius  - The Oti Mabuse Dance Studio, bringing world-class dance training to London in a way that's accessible and affordable.

She has appeared on many UK TV Shows - Celebrity Tipping Point, Pointless, Celebrity Masterchef, Guessable, Game of Talents, Would I Lie to You, Partners in Rhyme, The Wheel, The Big Fat Quiz Of Everything and Britain's Got MoreTalent to name a few. She was honored to be the face of BBC's Sport Relief and compete in the 2019 charity netball match in Liverpool where she captained the winning side.

She has also presented The One Show, Sports Relief Main Show, Morning Live! Stephs Packed Lunch, Entertainment on ITV Lorraine, and CBBC Horrible Histories and will be filming her journey for BBC1's Oti South African Odyssey where she will return to her homeland of South Africa in 2022.

During the pandemic she kept the nation dancing with her free daily Dance classes with her husband Marius and even filmed a series from her home - Otis Boogie Beebies for Cbeebies. Her lockdown classes have been viewed over 4 million times.

Oti has also made her name as a TV Judge on ITV's The Masked Dancer and Dancing On Ice  - as well as BBC3 Ru Pauls Drag Race and I Like The Way You Move.

In 2022 she will Choreograph Cher The Musical and tour the UK in her dance spectacular - I Am Here.

She has been announced to present her own ITV TV series - Romeo and Duet (a dating and singing format) which will air later in the year.