Oti Mabuse reflects on Strictly Come Dancing with Emmerdale's Kelvin Fletcher as I Am Here tour heads to Hull, Leeds and Sheffield

Oti Mabuse’s fans may think they know her, but she has come a long way to being the two-time Strictly Come Dancing champion and television presenter known to audiences around the world.

Born and raised in South Africa with ambitions to become a civil engineer – dancing was initially a side pursuit – she later earned her star status after moving to Germany and later the UK.

Her latest venture, the I Am Here tour, is already under way but heads to Hull, Leeds and Sheffield in June. If fans want to know the real Oti, this show is just the place to do it, she believes.

“I wanted to tell a story that was really familiar to me,” she says over a Zoom call.

“I’ve seen so many shows where I have watched people dance and I’ve just been like, ‘This is so nice, but I don’t know who you are’. I wanted a show where people knew who I was as a person – as a person who’s going to continue touring, as a person that’s going to continue doing shows.

“People who come to see my live show really get a special, intimate view.

“Not just of me, because I felt so self-indulgent, but of the experiences that I’ve been through from dancing in Germany and having to hustle in Germany, then to experiences of South Africa and what that felt like, then what the history of South Africa was and trying to get that to fit into five minutes of dancing.

“It’s a real journey. And it’s a it’s a journey that travels from place to place and I want people to really feel like they’re leaving one area and going into the next.”

Born in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1990, Oti is the youngest daughter of a lawyer and a teacher and started to dance at the age of four with her older sister, Motsi, going on to win eight South African Latin American Championships.

However, originally her heart was set on civil engineering, a career path that may surprise those who follow her recent success stories in the world of showbusiness.

Oti, 31, says: “I have always had this love for maths and science and learning and problem solving.

“Engineering was something that I felt really, really passionate about because I wanted to help the underprivileged.

“In South Africa, we have those aluminium tin houses. And the government has this scheme where they take those houses away and they relocate them and they give people actual housing, made out of brick walls, and they give them solar panels where they can have water and electricity that comes from the natural sunlight. I think that’s an incredible thing to have.

This urge of helping people who don’t have has always been at the front of my heart. And engineering was one of the ways that I thought I could help.”

However in order to broaden her dancing skills, in 2012 she left Pretoria for Nuremberg, Germany, where she found her dance partner and husband-to-be, Marius Iepure.

It was also in Germany where she set her sights on becoming a professional dancer worthy of competing with the very best in the world.

Together they became Professional German Champions in Showdance Latin in addition to achieving other accolades.

It also “accidentally led me into the world of TV” when in 2015 and 2016, she became a professional on Let’s Dance, the German version of Strictly.

Meanwhile she became a familiar face on the UK’s very own BBC version, partnering with boxer Anthony Ogogo, soap star Danny Mac (with whom she came second), Paralympian Jonnie Peacock and cricketer Graeme Swann.

It was in 2019 that she finally lifted the glitterball trophy with Kelvin Fletcher, known to Yorkshire audiences as formerly playing Andy Sugden in Leeds-based soap Emmerdale.

A year later, she won again with comedian Bill Bailey.

Asked about the ex-Emmerdale star, Oti says: “Kelvin was such a hard worker and one of those people that, even if you see his shows, he’s just really fully dedicated. And there’s nothing better than actually dancing with someone who’s dedicated to giving the dance and the show the respect that it deserves. He sacrificed so much. And he was my first winner. I will never forget the first time I lifted that trophy.”

Their Strictly Grand Final included a samba from the beginning of the series, a rumba from week four and a spectacular showdance.

Her last partner on the show was former rugby union player Ugo Monye before she announced in February this year that she would be leaving the show after seven years.

On the success of dancing shows in recent years, she says: “You get to go through all these ranges of emotions without saying anything, but just by learning a few simple steps. And I think that’s what captures people at home because it’s something that you can do with your family and your friends. Or you can just simply enjoy it.”

Since Strictly duties came to an end she has, of course, remained irrepressibly busy.

Among various presenting projects, she became part of the judging panel of the 14th series of ITV’s Dancing On Ice.

It was on this show she also got the opportunity to work with the legendary Olympic ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean.

They adapted a dance from I Am Here to create an impressive one-off performance combing all three of their talents (which can still be viewed online).

“They were amazing,” says Oti. “They’re such geniuses and legends in their own right and in their own world. And more than that – really lovely people to work with and get to know. I just loved it and Chris is so funny as well. And Jayne, when we were in the back room and bringing an entertainment element to the show, was brilliant. We worked on a group dance together and we all just had fun. To see these people that everybody has been admiring for years still being amazing and nice people and creative – still bringing a new spark, still bringing fresh ideas –that’s inspiring.”

Oti has also been presenting the ITV show Romeo and Duet.

Singers have one song to entice a singleton down from a balcony before meeting face-to-face.

The pair then head off on a date to learn a duet, before returning later in the show to perform the number in a singing competition against the other couples.

Having done presenting jobs every now and then for some years, it sounds as though the star is on her third career plan already.

She says: “Now finally I’ve decided okay, I’ve done bits and bobs, now I really want to take this seriously and keep learning, keep bettering myself, and pushing myself to get to a level where I’m like, ‘Okay, you can do this and you can do this as a career’ and I’m really excited.”

I Am Here – a direct translation of Oti’s name in the language Setswana, spoken in South Africa –is her debut headline dance tour, billed to include “mesmerising Jives and pumping Sambas to South African traditional dances”.

Oti previously said that announcing the tour was a “dream come true”, and now adds “there is no thrill like live performance”.

I Am Here goes to Hull City Hall on Wednesday June 8; Leeds Grand Theatre for two nights on Thursday and Friday, June 16 and 17; and Sheffield City Hall’s Oval Hall on Saturday June 25. Bookings can be made online. Visit Otimabuse.com