Rocky life of I’m a Celeb’s Oti Mabuse…family shunned over brother’s tragic suicide, birth trauma & ‘scary’ sepsis fight

LIFE hasn’t been casual for erstwhile Strictly prima Oti Mabuse, and past night’s occurrence of I’m A Celebrity revealed conscionable however overmuch she’s endured.

The 34-year-old near campmates successful tears arsenic she opened up astir the tragic termination of her half-brother Neo, who took his beingness with poison erstwhile Oti was conscionable a child. 

Their superstitious South African assemblage shunned the family, believing their location carried "negative energy."

But it’s not the lone adversity in Oti’s beingness she’s had to overcome. 

From escaping poorness to becoming 1 of the biggest stars connected Strictly and nursing her premature baby, we look astatine Oti’s inspiring beingness story.

Brother's termination

Oti's beingness began with humble roots, arsenic her mum Dudu, a teen astatine the time, gave commencement to her successful South Africa’s North West province.

Dudu, struggling financially, lived with her parents until gathering lawyer Peter Mabuse, who would aboriginal go a High Court justice successful Pretoria.

Oti had 2 sisters and an older half-brother, Neo, who tragically took his ain beingness astatine 16. Motsi, Oti's sister, believes Neo struggled to set to the family’s newfound wealthiness aft years of poverty.

The household yet moved to Mabopane, wherever Peter’s ineligible vocation thrived, and Dudu worked arsenic a nursery schoolhouse teacher, enabling them to bask a amended lifestyle. 

Despite their success, the shadiness of Neo’s decease marked a poignant section successful their lives.

 “He killed himself with poison,” Oti recalled. “And due to the fact that the radical of Africa are precise spiritual and superstitious, thing atrocious arose successful our neighbourhood.

"With the termination of Neo, our household was seen arsenic 1 wherever determination was a antagonistic energy.

“Because of this rumour, nary 1 came to america immoderate more, due to the fact that it was feared that the atrocious vigor applied to the visitor.”

Oti and Motsi - who besides carved a palmy dancing vocation earlier becoming a justice connected Strictly - were precise young erstwhile Neo died and Motsi believes helium killed himself owed to remembering erstwhile the household lived successful poorer circumstances and uncovering it harder to set arsenic they got richer.

“Neo had witnessed the emergence of my parents,” she wrote successful her publication Chili successful the Blood: My Dance Through Life, which has been published successful Germany.

“He inactive remembered the cramped life, which for america younger siblings was much of a communicative than a genuinely experienced reality.”

She added: “I deliberation each the changes had overwhelmed him a small bit, everything had seemed hard to him.

“He had gone to a backstage school, but helium had surrounded himself with radical you mightiness telephone ‘false friends.’ It was a pugnacious clip for each of us, but particularly for my mum.”

Riots and racism

Growing up successful South Africa conscionable arsenic the apartheid was ending, Oti faced a puerility shaped by radical tensions and violence. 

Her sister Motsi recalls however they were forced to usage assemblage minibuses to scope their convent schoolhouse due to the fact that nationalist transport was whites-only.

Township riots were a frightening reality, with burning cars and overturned vehicles often seen from their schoolhouse bus. Police interrogations astatine location meant the children had to fell successful their rooms, shielding them from the governmental turmoil that engulfed their community.

“We ever knew erstwhile riots had breached retired due to the fact that we weren’t allowed to permission the house, adjacent to spell to school,” she wrote successful her book.

“Then the adjacent day, erstwhile I was backmost connected the schoolhouse bus, I could spot it was inactive burning everyplace and cars had been knocked over.”

When the constabulary came to the location and asked her begetter questions “we children had to vanish into our rooms truthful we didn’t get thing from the conversations."

No friends

From a young age, all 3 Mabuse sisters - including mediate sister Phemelo - embraced dancing, with Oti starting astatine conscionable 4 years old. 

Their mother, determined to enactment their passion, converted an bare bureau into a backstage creation workplace since section schools wouldn’t judge them.

“We were the wow girls, the showgirls,” Motsi wrote successful her book. “And the biggest diva of each of us, that was Otlile. The sanction means ‘She has arrived’, and truthful has she behaved since the time she was born. Of america 3 girls, she has the top confidence, the top self-awareness.”

Despite her committedness to dance, Oti trained arsenic a civilian technologist aft schoolhouse arsenic a backup program and impressively speaks 8 languages fluently. 

“I was dancing erstwhile I was 4 and dancing has ever been a portion of my life,” she says. 

“My mum was like, ‘School, school, schoolhouse and aft schoolhouse you spell and creation – nary friends. You spell to the creation workplace – who needs friends? Nobody needs friends’.”

Strictly stress

Oti  joined Strictly successful 2015, winning doubly with Kelvin Fletcher and Bill Bailey. 

But the unit of the contention took a toll, leaving her struggling with eating disorders and affectional distress, and she would adjacent interruption down successful tears successful the shower. 

Despite the challenges, Oti's supportive husband, dancer Marius Lepure, 41,  helped her header done those hard times.

"I was struggling with not being capable to get the champion retired of someone," she admitted connected the All Change podcast. "Luckily my hubby again has been an astonishing idiosyncratic who has seen the acheronian days, the days wherever I'm successful the ablution crying with my apparel connected due to the fact that it's truthful hard and it's truthful overwhelming.

"He's seen maine not eat, he's seen maine overeat, he's seen maine conflict with not being capable to get the champion retired of someone. He's seen maine having to woody with 'interesting personalities.' So, he's the idiosyncratic that's seen the down the scenes astatine the constituent wherever I'd got to wherever I was like: 'I deliberation I'm finished.' He was like: 'Yeah'."

The prima discontinue successful 2022 and says galore questioned her decision.

"I came from the biggest amusement connected television. Every azygous quality being connected this planet, successful this country, loves Strictly. People are obsessed. When you travel from there, you are with that group, past erstwhile you determine you're going to permission it's like: 'What? What bash you mean?'

"I was met with a batch of: 'Why would you leave? You're happy, you're astatine the apical of your nonrecreational game, you nonrecreational game, you won the show?'"

Body insecurities

In a candid chat with Lorraine successful 2019, Oti revealed battling insecurities astir her curvaceous figure, adjacent breaking down successful tears during a Strictly formal fitting implicit her size 28GG chest.

But, the 33-year-old credited the show’s supportive formed and unit for helping her clasp her body, saying their encouragement helped her consciousness much assured astir her curves and positivity connected screen.

Talking astir her archetypal formal fitting connected the show, she recalled: "Strictly opened a batch of doors to me. I retrieve fitting my archetypal bra and I was crying. I was like, this looks truthful atrocious and I look truthful monolithic compared to the different girls.

"Nobody picked connected maine for it and nary 1 discriminated against maine for it and cipher said thing successful a antagonistic mode and I deliberation that helped maine and my self-esteem and my nerves astir being retired successful a bra with sequins on.

"Most shops cater for mundane women but successful my case, I don’t person an mundane body. We each travel successful antithetic shapes and sizes and I deliberation it’s truly important we each clasp and observe the tegument that we’re in. It is you aft each and I deliberation that’s truly special.”

Traumatic birth

Oti and her dancer husband Marius Lepure, 41, welcomed their archetypal kid successful November 2023. 

But their newborn faced a pugnacious start, being calved prematurely astatine conscionable 28 weeks and weighing conscionable 3lb.

After having a mean pregnancy, Oti says she was shocked her newborn contracted an infection, requiring six weeks of intensive care.

"Once I gave commencement to her it became much traumatic, I had sepsis and I didn’t know,” she revealed. “I had each these things, I had diabetes, I had pelvic symptom truthful turning and getting up and walking was precise painful. 

“Then I recovered retired that I had sepsis. It was 1 happening implicit the other. We spent 10 minutes unneurotic and she was taken distant with my hubby and the doctors.

“She was successful the incubator and that was the archetypal clip we really saw her. She was covered up and she had each these machines and wires and everything covering her face.”

Oti tells however the “premature world” lone comes to airy erstwhile you acquisition it. 

“It was a really, truly scary time,” she continues. “There were moments wherever she wouldn't eat, feeding her was truly tough. In South Africa and Romania, they don't assistance children who are calved arsenic young arsenic she was, truthful we were very, precise lucky.”

Marius added: “I knew determination was thing amended we could do. I saw babies wherever if it would person been that week successful Romania they would not person saved the baby. We are lucky.”