Oti Mabuse opened up about the valuable “huge lesson” she learned after ITV axed her weekend breakfast show. The professional dancer, who hosted a Saturday morning programme while Laura Whitmore took on Sundays, reflected on the experience after the shows were dropped in an early schedule shake-up last year.
Oti, originally from South Africa, candidly shared that the cancellation taught her a lot, emphasising that failures have been her greatest teachers. Despite the setback, Oti, aged 34, has enjoyed considerable success since leaving South Africa in 2015.
She first appeared on Germany’s Let’s Dance and then joined Strictly Come Dancing for its 13th series, achieving consecutive victories with Kelvin Fletcher and Bill Bailey.
After departing Strictly in 2021, where her sister Motsi was on the judging panel, Oti continued her TV career by becoming a judge on ITV’s Dancing on Ice in 2022, alongside Ashley Banjo and Olympic legends Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean.
Oti Mabuse says she learnt an important lesson when her ITV show was axed.
(Image: (Image: ITV))
Speaking to The Times, Oti stressed the importance of learning from life’s losses: “But the biggest lessons you get are from the failures. The most successful people are the ones who have failed over and over and over again and not given up.
“I went to my first concert at the age of 31 and that was me seeing Elton John. I was always in the studio, always being a good girl. I never lived a life. I’d never taken a moment to stop and travel, go on holiday, do what I wanted to do.”, reports the Express.
“So I needed to do that. Even getting a new show [an ITV weekend breakfast show in 2023] and then having my show cancelled, those were huge lessons for me.”
Oti is making a comeback to Dancing on Ice only one month after her stint in the Australian bush on ‘I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!’. She ended up coming fourth, behind The Communards’ Rev Richard Coles, Coleen Rooney, and the winner Danny Jones from McFly.
Oti Mabuse on Dancing on Ice
(Image: (Image: ITV))
This commitment meant she had to temporarily leave her young daughter and husband Marius Iepure behind. Before joining the show, she exclaimed: “I’ve always wanted to be a part of the show in some capacity, and I felt like right now, this year is the only year for me to do it, because I’ll probably never do it again.”
Commenting on their time apart, she conveys: “My daughter won’t remember it. It’s just a couple of days. She’s with a lot of family, and she’s with my husband who is amazing, and she’s in more than capable hands.”