Motsi Mabuse has opened up about her feelings towards her sister Oti Mabuse leaving Strictly Come Dancing, admitting that her absence has been “difficult” for her.
The professional dancer has been a part of the Strictly panel since 2019, sitting alongside Craig Revel Horwood, Anton Du Beke and head judge Shirley Ballas.
Prior to Motsi’s arrival on the show, Oti, 33, had been a professional dancer on the programme since 2015. She became the only professional to win two consecutive series of Strictly in 2019 and 2020, before announcing her exit in 2022.
In a new interview with The Times, Motsi, 42, has spoken frankly about judging without her younger sister involved in the show.
“It’s difficult not having my sister physically there on Strictly any more,” she admitted, before noting Oti’s personal struggles while competing on the show.
“I knew she was fighting; she had an inner struggle,” Motsi continued. “We used to look across to each other like, ‘I know you’re there. Are you OK?’ A sister look. But Oti is always watching and texting me.”
Motsi Mabuse and Oti Mabuse— (Getty Images)
In September, Oti spoke about experiencing some “dark days” behind the scenes while on the show, despite putting forward a happy exterior to the outside world. During an interview on the All Change podcast, Oti said that her husband, dancer Marius Lepure, had supported her through tumultuous emotional moments.
“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,” she explained. “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.’”
Despite no longer competing on the programme, Oti choreographed an Afro-Latin professional routine for the current series, led by fellow South African Strictly star Johannes Radebe.
Elsewhere in the interview, Motsi shared some insight into who she’d enjoy seeing on future series of the BBC dance competition. “I’d love to see Kylie Minogue on Strictly,” she said. “I think Andrew Garfield or Tom Hiddleston could dance really, really well.”
She also revealed that she and Oti had been guided towards dancing by their mother, who wanted them to have an outlet to escape racism and harmful vices while growing up in Pretoria, South Africa.
“My mum thought we’d be away from the streets if we were dancing,” she said. “She made us go in dancing to protect us from teen pregnancy, drugs, alcohol. She tried to protect us from the racism in South Africa. As kids, we knew people hated us because of our skin colour.”
Strictly Come Dancing airs on Saturday evenings on BBC One.
