Oti Mabuse Met The Love Of Her Life On The Dancefloor

Dancing On Ice returned to ITV on Jan. 16 and introduced professional dancer Oti Mabuse as the TV competition’s newest addition to the judging panel. Before she was critiquing celebrities’ ice-skating skills, the South African dancer is, of course, best known for dazzling judges on the dance floor as one of Strictly Come Dancing’s professionals. Since 2015, the 31-year-old has performed with many novice celebrity dancers on the TV competition, winning two series, but what about Oti Mabuse’s partner away from the dance floor?

Oti Mabuse has been married Marius Lepure since 2014 when Mabuse. It seems their mutual love of dance brought the pair together, per Hello Magazine. The couple met during a dance trial in Germany in 2012. (Mabuse’s sister, Motsi, is also a judge on Strictly Come Dancing, so dance clearly runs in the family.)

Mabuse was auditioning for a new dance partner, having just moved to Germany from South Africa. Sparks immediately flew between her and and Lepure, and, as the story goes, he was the first and last partner she auditioned. Their partnership was more than successful. The pair went on to finish in second place at the World Latin Championships, and in 2014, they tied the knot.

That’s not to say the pair have waltzed through their relationship, however, as Oti told the She’s A Dancer podcast in February 2021, they regularly “clashed” before they got married, as they struggled to balance their personalities.

“I'm a big personality and [Marius] is a big personality as well,” she said to the podcast hosts. The dancer also confessed in the episode, per The Express, that she once threatened to “pack my bags and leave” during a particularly heated dance session.

“There was one moment where he said to me, 'No. You have to do this because you don't know what you're doing,” Mabuse shared, adding "I turned and said to him, 'Let me tell you what I do know. I know how to pack my bags and leave.'"

Regardless, their eight-year marriage has seemingly moved from strength to strength, as Mabuse isn’t afraid to gush about her husband on her Instagram page - from sweet selfies taken at home in their comfies, to incredible dance videos, where they prove they’ve still got amazing chemistry.

“My husband is the most relaxed human being on earth and he calms the crazy in me,” she said to The Express in 2021. “He understands my mentality. He understands the competitive side and pushes me, but he knows the real me at home, too.”

Marius Lepure, who is now a director and event organiser, has been a constant support for Mabuse since her Strictly debut, even performing during a group dance on the TV competition in 2017, and, all importantly, has never seemed phased by the so-called “Strictly curse.” As he jokingly told the Daily Mail, "I've heard about the Strictly curse, but it doesn't bother me one bit. I simply can't afford to get a divorce so it's not going to happen."