Strictly Backstage!

Three women from BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing share their behind-thescenes insights on dancing with celebs or altering costumes last minute.

- Nathalie Whittle; Stephanie Van Der Plank; Amy Hunt

THE PROFESSIONAL DANCER

SA-born professional ballroom dancer OTI MABUSE lives between Germany and the UK. She’s married to Marius Iepure, also a professional dancer.

Who knew that learning dance in my mom’s Pretoria studio as a young girl would set the stage for a Strictly career? I’ve always dreamt big, but being a part of the Strictly family was something I’d never imagined would happen. After I had earned eight national dance championships in South Africa, I decided it was time to compete on an international scale. I moved to Germany when I was 18 and, seven years later, was cast on Let’s Dance, Germany’s equivalent of Strictly – a dream come true. I was scouted for BBC’s Strictly shortly afterwards.

A serendipitous encounter opened the door to Strictly for me. I was sitting in a restaurant in Germany when I heard a British man struggling to order his meal in broken German. I stepped in to speak to the waitress for him. We got to chatting and it turned out he worked with the casting people on BBC’s Strictly! He said he’d love to see me audition for the show. That was one of my best lunches ever!

Waiting for the judges’ feedback is terrifying. I’m responsible for turning a celeb with little to no dance experience into a great dancer in a matter of days, which can be daunting. When I heard I’d be paired with actor Danny Mac for my second season, I was nervous because I’d heard how shy he is. But all I needed to do was build his confidence a bit, and he shone.