Oti Mabuse has had her fair share of highs - and lows - during her seven years on Strictly Come Dancing.
The professional dancer announced she was quitting the BBC One show after seven years in a poignant message to the show's fans and her own supporters, as she admitted it has "never been easy to say goodbye".
In the heartfelt statement, Oti - who is now a judge on Dancing On Ice - said: "Never easy to say goodbye I have been part of the most amazing TV show, Strictly Come Dancing for the past seven years and it has been an incredible time.
"Lifting the glitter ball twice and having the best journey with all my celebrities, but also meeting and working with the best team, crew, producers, celebs and incredible professional dancers!"
Here The Mirror takes a look back at the highs and lows of her time on Strictly.
Double wins
Not many Strictly professionals can say they've won the show - let alone twice. Oti managed to triumph on the BBC One show in both 2019 and 2020 alongside comedian Bill Bailey and Emmerdale's Kelvin Fletcher respectively.
Oti remains the only pro other than Aliona Vilani to have won the show twice, and she is still the only professional dancer to have triumphed on the dance show two years in a row.
When she and Kelvin won, Oti was in tears as she told hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman: "I have done this show for five years and I have never ever met any celebrity who gives his heart, his soul. If something was not working we stayed in training and rehearse, and not because we wanted to win but because he genuinely loved dancing."
And when she and Bill won in 2020, Oti penned a heartfelt tribute to her dancing partner.
"I can't find the words to describe how grateful I am. At the beginning of the year my goal was to humble myself with everything I experience this year and boy did this close my year on a high with the best friend I made in @billbaileyofficial but we didn't make it alone," she wrote on Instagram in a message to Bill.
A close runner-up
Her series with Bill and Kelvin weren't the only time Oti made it to the final. She also managed to get within touching distance of the infamous Glitterball Trophy in 2016 when she was partnered with Danny Mac.
In fact, Oti and Danny managed to bag the most judges' points out of all the celebs - a total of 591 across the series - but the viewers decided they preferred Ore Oduba and Joanne Clifton, who went on to win the show.
At the time, Danny and Oti were favourites to win and he opened up about the pressure as he praised his dance partner.
"I don’t think I’m the favourite. Everyone else has upped their game and it’s a very level contest," he said, "Any claim of being favourite has actually made things even harder. It keeps the pressure on but no one puts more on me than Oti anyway. She’s unbelievable."
Romance rumours
What's Strictly without the curse? Most of the celebs - and their dancing partners - have been subjected to rumours about the infamous Strictly curse in their time and unfortunately, there was no expecting for Oti.
Fans of the BBC One show were convinced Oti and soap actor Kelvin were more than friends - despite the pair both being in their own very stable marriages.
Oti is married to husband Marius Lepure after being introduced to one another by Oti's sister Motsi.
"I'm a big personality and [Marius] is a big personality as well. So, it became a bit of a clash," she said as she opened up about the early days of their romance, "There was one moment where he said to me, 'No. You have to do this because you don't know what you're doing.' I turned and said to him, 'Let me tell you what I do know. I know how to pack my bags and leave.'"
However, fans suspected there was more going on with her and Kelvin after the duo were spotted having late night drinks together - something which the pair of them both denied.
Fix claims
Oti was faced with a load of 'fix' claims from fans of the BBC One show after her own sister Motsi Mabuse joined the judging panel.
Viewers were puzzled how Motsi could remain impartial whilst judging her own sister, but to settle fans' minds, the sisters agreed to borderline ignore each other while appearing on the show together.
"We were very professional and, to be fair to everyone else, it needed to be," she explained, "I only really saw her on the show day on Saturdays when she was critiquing. Kelvin and I didn't really speak to her, either, because we were so busy."
Oti also revealed she only found out about Motsi's appointment as a judge at the same time as everyone else.
She said: "I only found out on the day Motsi was announced, as production don't tell me anything. They do what they do and they did what was best for the show. Other than that I have no control. I know how amazing Motsi is, I was proud of her."
*What was your favourite Oti moment on Strictly? Let us know in the comments below.
