Strictly’s Oti Mabuse slams critics for claiming her stint on the show is ‘box ticking’

‘I don’t want to be the shiny black girl’: Strictly’s Oti Mabuse slams critics for claiming she is only on the show because it’s ‘box ticking’


Oti Mabuse has hit back at critics claiming she is only on Strictly Come Dancing because of box ticking.

The dancer, 30, told  The Mirror that she is so much more than what her critics have labelled her, after wowing viewers with her incredible dance moves.

Oti also revealed that people have told her that she only has the job on the show because she is filling a quota, and not because of her talent, and insists she is done with being labelled ‘the shiny black girl.’ 

Criticism: Strictly Come Dancing pro Oti Mabuse, 30, has hit back at critics who claim she is only on the show because of box ticking (pictured in 2020)

Oti has said that there is a problem with box ticking in the UK, and has allowed for  people to make such comments about her. 

She said: ‘They like to go: ‘You are ticking a box. You are just here because you are black, you are just here because you are African, you are just here because you are a black woman or you are just here because you are a gay black man.” 

She continued: ‘Sometimes I will get a job or an opportunity and be like, I don’t want to be the shiny black girl in this situation. You go, ‘well it does not look like you had me’ (in mind).’ 

Speaking out: The dancer has insisted to The Mirror that she is so much more than what her critics have labelled her

Speaking out: The dancer has insisted to The Mirror that she is so much more than what her critics have labelled her

These claims come two years after the dancer Louie Spence similarly to criticised Strictly bosses when they hired Oti’s sister Motsi to be a judge on the show, saying that she was a ‘nobody.’

Oti hit back at these comments on her podcast Rhythm of Life. 

She continued that because she she arrived from South Africa to Britain with herself, a plane ticket and a 20kg suitcase she has to have a thick skin. 

The Strictly star has faced struggles within her relationship, also, where she faced backlash in her native country for being in a multiracial couple. 

These claims come two years after the dancer Louie Spence similarly to criticised Strictly bosses when they hired Oti's sister Motsi (pictured) to be a judge on the show

These claims come two years after the dancer Louie Spence similarly to criticised Strictly bosses when they hired Oti’s sister Motsi (pictured) to be a judge on the show

Candid: Oti also admitted that she found the UK much more tolerant of her multiracial relationship with her Romanian husband, Marius Lepure (pictured in 2019)

Candid: Oti also admitted that she found the UK much more tolerant of her multiracial relationship with her Romanian husband, Marius Lepure (pictured in 2019)

She found the UK much more tolerant of her relationship, though, and found people did not stare at her and her Romanian husband, Marius Lepure, 38, as much as in South Africa. 

The talent has won the glitter-ball on the hit show two years on the trot, in 2019 with Kevin Fletcher and in 2020 with Bill Bailey.

She’s a success on the show, and is reportedly paid a six-figure salary. 

Amazing: She won the coveted Glitterball on the hit show two years in a row, in 2019 with Kelvin Fletcher and in 2020 with Bill Bailey (pictured)

Amazing: She won the coveted Glitterball on the hit show two years in a row, in 2019 with Kelvin Fletcher and in 2020 with Bill Bailey (pictured)