Oti Mabuse teases return for special Strictly dance

Strictly Come Dancing star Oti Mabuse has revealed what viewers of the BBC show can expect from an upcoming group number she choreographed.

The former Strictly professional, who won the show in 2019 and 2020, announced her departure from the dancing competition in 2022.

However, she is set to return to the dancefloor in a new capacity as The Masked Dancer judge has created a dance for her fellow professionals to perform.

Speaking to another former Strictly professional, Janette Manrara, on the spin-off show It Takes Two, Oti teased what fans can expect from an upcoming group dance she has choreographed.

Related: Strictly's Janette Manrara and Aljaž Škorjanec confirm plans for more children

She praised Strictly for embracing "all styles of dancing", and credited the African inspiration of the number as "representing her".

"It started off in the safari, and then we were like 'no let's modernise it a bit', so it's basically a festival of dance that would be in Africa," she said of the performance. "There are so many styles of dance we have. We have Amapiano, Afro Beats, Afro-fusion, and Afro-pop, and other dances that have African influences like the Cha Cha and the Rumba."

Oti said she told the professional dancers to "go mad" when learning the routine, and that there were "no rules" to how they interpret the choreography.

"The thing that I loved about them as a group is that they are so open-minded and they were all willing to learn," she continued. "It was tough but they did it. And they looked amazing, at the end we were like 'yes, this is so good'."

Related: Strictly's Annabel opens up on emotional dance tribute to late husband

The star also revealed additional dancers will join the pros on stage and the significance of this choice.

"I feel like the dance being set in Africa and being about Africa, when you get dancers from Nigeria, Congo, Ghana, or South Africa, it's nice to have dancers from there as well so people can see what the style looks like authentically," she explained.

"It was amazing because it was two different energies coming into the room and creating an amazing, buzzing feeling."

Strictly Come Dancing airs on Saturdays and Sundays on BBC One, while spin-off Strictly: It Takes Two airs on weeknights on BBC Two. Both shows are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

Tickets for Strictly's 2024 live arena tour are available now.

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