Oti Mabuse

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How Old Is Oti Mabuse? Everything About The Dancer Who’s Been Through Hell And Back

Published on October 11, 2025 by Liora Crest

How old is Oti Mabuse? She’s 35. He was born on the 8th of August 1990 in Pretoria in South Africa. 35 as of this past August 2025. But really, what difference does her age even make when you know what she’s been through the past few years?

November 2023, her daughter was born 10 weeks premature. Weighed less than 3lbs. Six weeks in intensive care. Oti announced it on Christmas Day but left out the real scary stuff – the fact her baby arrived early, that she got sepsis, the infection, and how she couldn’t even hold her baby for a whole week.

Nearly Losing Her Daughter

Oti Mabuse’s daughter’s name isn’t public. The professional dancer is very private about her personal life and has not shared her daughter’s name with the public. Your kid’s name doesn’t need to be splashed everywhere just because you’re famous.

What she has talked about is how absolutely terrifying it all was. How old is Oti Mabuse’s daughter? Nearly two now as of October 2025. Born in November 2023, announced on Christmas Day. Those first six weeks, though – nobody knew if the baby would make it.

She was born at 28 weeks with an infection. Oti developed sepsis after giving birth. Had diabetes complications and pelvic pain so severe she couldn’t walk right. They had 10 minutes together: her, the baby and Marius Iepure before doctors took the baby away.

She discussed it on I’m a Celebrity in November 2024. Proper broke down telling Reverend Richard Coles about it, calling it “hell”. Said they couldn’t hold their daughter for a week. Just watched her in an incubator hooked up to machines, praying she’d survive.

That changes you forever, doesn’t it? She’s said becoming a mum changed her “in the best way possible,” but you can hear the fear underneath. Knowing how close it was. How easily her daughter might not have made it.

Marius Was There Through Everything

How old is Oti Mabuse husband? Marius Iepure, born 1986, is now 39. Professional dancer too, Romanian, met through dance competitions. They got married in 2014. That’s over 11 years together now.

Some people get confused about Oti Mabuse’s first husband, thinking maybe she was married before. She wasn’t. Marius, it is. They married in Denmark in 2014, kept it relatively quiet.

Oti Mabuse’s wedding photos exist somewhere, but they’re not everywhere online. She’s always been fairly private about personal stuff, which seems smart when cameras follow you around constantly.

Marius went through the same nightmare. Watched his premature baby fighting for life, dealt with Oti being seriously ill, and probably felt completely useless through all of it. That either breaks a marriage or makes it bulletproof. Seems like they’re stronger for it.

Her Sister’s On Strictly Too

Oti Mabuse sister Motsi is two years older. Born in 1981, so she’s 44 now. Also, a professional ballroom dancer. She’s been judging Strictly Come Dancing since 2019. Having your older sister judging a competition you’re in must be weird, but they both handled it fine.

There’s another sister, Phemelo, who didn’t go into dance. Their mum taught, and their dad was a lawyer. Oti started dancing at 4, became South African Champion 8 times, and represented South Africa at World Championships.

She actually studied civil engineering at uni before going all-in on dance. That’s quite a jump – from engineering to professional dancer. But when you’re that talented at something, you follow it.

The Shows She’s Done

Strictly Come Dancing from 2015 to 2021. Won twice – 2019 with Kelvin Fletcher, 2020 with Bill Bailey. That’s mad impressive. Most pro dancers on Strictly never win once. She won back-to-back.

She did the German version before coming to Britain. Let’s Dance, it’s called. She’s judged Dancing on Ice since 2022. I’m a Celebrity in November 2024, which is where she opened up about the premature birth trauma.

Other stuff includes The Masked Dancer as a judge, Romesh: Hip Hop Saved My Life, and  The Greatest Dancer. She’s become a proper telly personality now, not just a dancer.

Where Things Are Now

October 2025, Oti is in a completely different place than a year ago. Her daughter’s nearly two, doing well despite the scary start. She’s working – judging Dancing on Ice, doing telly appearances, talking about premature births and neonatal care.

She’s become an advocate for premature babies and NICUs. Talks about feeling “lucky” that her daughter survived. That word “lucky” carries massive weight when you know how touch-and-go things were.

How old Oti Mabuse is matters less than everything she’s survived. Yeah, she’s 35. But she’s lived more in two years than most people live in ten. Became a mum in the worst possible way, nearly died from sepsis, watched her tiny baby fight for life, and somehow came through it all still functioning.

She’s still dancing, still working, still showing up on telly looking sorted whilst probably processing trauma. That takes something special.

Not just strength, because what choice did she have, really, but resilience? Getting up every day when everything’s fallen apart.

The Bigger Picture

Her daughter will grow up knowing Mum fought for her. Those six weeks in intensive care were hell, but everyone survived. That’s a story about modern medicine saving lives that wouldn’t have been saved 20 years ago. About parents dealing with the worst nightmare.

Oti’s career is brilliant. Two Strictly wins, loads of telly shows, and respected in her field. But honestly? The most impressive thing about her right now is that she’s still going after what happened. Still smiling, still working, still being mum to a daughter who nearly didn’t make it.

The TV shows with Oti Mabuse are great. She’s talented, charismatic, and knows how to work a camera. But what matters more is that she’s a mum now who knows exactly how fragile life is. Who spent six weeks watching her premature baby in intensive care, not knowing if she’d survive.

She talks about it quite openly now, which must help other parents going through the same thing. Knowing someone else has been there, survived it, and come out the other side. That’s worth more than any trophy or television appearance.

You look at her now – working, laughing, raising her daughter – and you’d never know she nearly lost everything two years ago. That’s either really good acting or she’s properly processing the trauma. Maybe both. Maybe you just learn to function around it, carry it with you whilst still living your life.

Her daughter is two in November. That’s a milestone Oti probably wasn’t sure she’d see during those first six weeks in intensive care. Now she’s planning second birthday parties instead of worrying if her baby will survive the night.

That’s everything, really, isn’t it? Age is just a number. Oti’s 35, yeah. But she’s also a survivor, a mum, someone who’s been through hell and somehow kept dancing. That matters way more than how many candles are on her birthday cake.

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