South African dancer Oti Mabuse has said she felt a sense of belonging from seeing interracial couples during trips to London while she lived in Germany.
The former Strictly Come Dancing professional said that seeing “multicultural couples” reminded her of her own relationship.
The 34-year-old is married to Romanian dancer Marius Iepure and the couple announced the birth of their first child on Christmas Day in 2023.
Speaking to Prima magazine, she said: “When I lived in Germany, Marius and I used to come to London.
“The best dance school was in Croydon, and all the best couples would go there.
“I remember the first time we’d be walking the streets, and there were so many interracial couples.
“I would say to Marius, ‘There’s us! There’s us! Oh, there we go again!’ And I was just like, ‘Wow, where have I been living? Why am I not here? I just see so many multicultural couples’, and it felt like, ‘I need that diversity in my life.’
“And when I came here, every time we took a lesson, we’d always take a walk. It just felt amazing; it felt like I belonged.”
Mabuse was the dance partner of Iepure after she left Pretoria, South Africa, in 2012 for Nuremberg, Germany, and together they competed for Germany in showdance Latin.
In 2015, Mabuse joined Strictly. She won the celebrity dance show twice before departing in 2022.
On a possible return to the BBC dance competition series, she told Prima: “When I look back on Strictly, I think the whole seven-year journey was amazing.
“I still work on the show. I still do choreography, I’m still talking to the producers.
“I say that the show brought me everything, like me sitting here today, and the relationship still very much continues.
There were ups, there were downs – if you can imagine being the first black anything, anywhere, there will always be ups and downs.
“Everyone asks me (if I’d return to Strictly). I think right now, with a daughter and everything I’m doing, I’m quite busy, and I’m happy with what I’m doing at the minute. But never say never.
The doors are always open, which is really, really nice. Aljaz (Skorjanec) went back and he’s doing really well.
“I went back to choreograph with him and he’s just in a different space. He’s absolutely sensational. So, you never know.”
The June 2025 issue of Prima is now on sale.
