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 easy for former Strictly star Oti Mabuse, and last night’s episode of I’m A Celebrity revealed just how much she’s endured.

The 34-year-old left campmates in tears as she opened up about the tragic suicide of her half-brother Neo, who took his life with poison when Oti was just a child. 

Their superstitious South African community shunned the family, believing their home carried “negative energy.”

But it’s not the only adversity in Oti’s life she’s had to overcome. 

From escaping poverty to becoming one of the biggest stars on Strictly and nursing her premature baby, we look at Oti’s inspiring life story.

Brother’s suicide

Oti’s life began with humble roots, as her mum Dudu, a teen at the time, gave birth to her in South Africa’s North West province.

Dudu, struggling financially, lived with her parents until meeting lawyer Peter Mabuse, who would later become a High Court judge in Pretoria.

Oti had two sisters and an older half-brother, Neo, who tragically took his own life at 16. Motsi, Oti’s sister, believes Neo struggled to adjust to the family’s newfound wealth after years of poverty.

The family eventually moved to Mabopane, where Peter’s legal career thrived, and Dudu worked as a nursery school teacher, enabling them to enjoy a better lifestyle. 

Despite their success, the shadow of Neo’s death marked a poignant chapter in their lives.

 “He killed himself with poison,” Oti recalled. “And because the people of Africa are very religious and superstitious, something bad arose in our neighbourhood.

“With the suicide of Neo, our family was seen as one where there was a negative energy.

“Because of this rumour, no one came to us any more, because it was feared that the bad energy applied to the visitor.”

Oti and Motsi – who also carved a successful dancing career before becoming a judge on Strictly – were very young when Neo died and Motsi believes he killed himself due to remembering when the family lived in poorer circumstances and finding it harder to adjust as they got richer.

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

“He still remembered the cramped life, which for us younger siblings was more of a narrative than a truly experienced reality.”

She added: “I think all the changes had overwhelmed him a little bit, everything had seemed difficult to him.

“He had gone to a private school, but he had surrounded himself with people you might call ‘false friends.’ It was a tough time for all of us, but especially for my mum.”

Riots and racism

Growing up in South Africa just as the apartheid was ending, Oti faced a childhood shaped by racial tensions and violence. 

Her sister Motsi recalls how they were forced to use community minibuses to reach their convent school because public transport was whites-only.

Township riots were a frightening reality, with burning cars and overturned vehicles often seen from their school bus. Police interrogations at home meant the children had to hide in their rooms, shielding them from the political turmoil that engulfed their community.

“We always knew when riots had broken out because we weren’t allowed to leave the house, even to go to school,” she wrote in her book.

“Then the next day, when I was back on the school bus, I could see it was still burning everywhere and cars had been knocked over.”

When the police came to the house and asked her father questions “we children had to disappear into our rooms so we didn’t get anything from the conversations.”

No friends

From a young age, all three Mabuse sisters – including middle sister Phemelo – embraced dancing, with Oti starting at just four years old. 

Their mother, determined to support their passion, converted an empty office into a private dance studio since local schools wouldn’t accept them.

“We were the wow girls, the showgirls,” Motsi wrote in her book. “And the biggest diva of all of us, that was Otlile. The name means ‘She has arrived’, and so has she behaved since the day she was born. Of us three girls, she has the greatest confidence, the greatest self-awareness.”

Despite her commitment to dance, Oti trained as a civil engineer after school as a backup plan and impressively speaks eight languages fluently. 

“I was dancing when I was four and dancing has always been a part of my life,” she says. 

“My mum was like, ‘School, school, school and after school you go and dance – no friends. You go to the dance studio – who needs friends? Nobody needs friends’.”

Strictly stress

Oti  joined Strictly in 2015, winning twice with Kelvin Fletcher and Bill Bailey. 

But the pressure of the competition took a toll, leaving her struggling with eating disorders and emotional distress, and she would even break down in tears in the shower. 

Despite the challenges, Oti’s supportive husband, dancer Marius Lepure, 41,  helped her cope through those difficult times.

“I was struggling with not being able to get the best out of someone,” she admitted on the All Change podcast. “Luckily my husband again has been an amazing person who has seen the dark days, the days where I’m in the shower crying with my clothes on because it’s so hard and it’s so overwhelming.

“He’s seen me not eat, he’s seen me overeat, he’s seen me struggle with not being able to get the best out of someone. He’s seen me having to deal with ‘interesting personalities.’ So, he’s the person that’s seen the behind the scenes at the point where I’d got to where I was like: ‘I think I’m finished.’ He was like: ‘Yeah’.”

The star quit in 2022 and says many questioned her decision.

“I came from the biggest show on television. Every single human being on this planet, in this country, loves Strictly. People are obsessed. When you come from there, you are with that group, then when you decide you’re going to leave it’s like: ‘What? What do you mean?’

“I was met with a lot of: ‘Why would you leave? You’re happy, you’re at the top of your professional game, you professional game, you won the show?'”

Body insecurities

In a candid chat with Lorraine in 2019, Oti revealed battling insecurities about her curvaceous figure, even breaking down in tears during a Strictly dress fitting over her size 28GG chest.

But, the 33-year-old credited the show’s supportive cast and crew for helping her embrace her body, saying their encouragement helped her feel more confident about her curves and positivity on screen.

Talking about her first dress fitting on the show, she recalled: “Strictly opened a lot of doors to me. I remember fitting my first bra and I was crying. I was like, this looks so bad and I look so massive compared to the other girls.

“Nobody picked on me for it and no one discriminated against me for it and nobody said anything in a negative way and I think that helped me and my self-esteem and my nerves about being out in a bra with sequins on.

“Most shops cater for everyday women but in my case, I don’t have an everyday body. We all come in different shapes and sizes and I think it’s really important we all embrace and celebrate the skin that we’re in. It is you after all and I think that’s really special.”

Traumatic birth

Oti and her dancer husband Marius Lepure, 41, welcomed their first child in November 2023. 

But their newborn faced a tough start, being born prematurely at just 28 weeks and weighing just 3lb.

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

“Once I gave birth to her it became more traumatic, I had sepsis and I didn’t know,” she revealed. “I had all these things, I had diabetes, I had pelvic pain so turning and getting up and walking was very painful. 

“Then I found out that I had sepsis. It was one thing over the other. We spent 10 minutes together and she was taken away with my husband and the doctors.

“She was in the incubator and that was the first time we actually saw her. She was covered up and she had all these machines and wires and everything covering her face.”

Oti tells how the “premature world” only comes to light when you experience it. 

“It was a really, really scary time,” she continues. “There were moments where she wouldn’t eat, feeding her was really tough. In South Africa and Romania, they don’t help children who are born as young as she was, so we were very, very lucky.”

Marius added: “I knew there was nothing better we could do. I saw babies where if it would have been that week in Romania they would not have saved the baby. We are lucky.”