Born in Pretoria in 1990, Oti Mabuse is the youngest daughter of a lawyer and a teacher. She started to dance when she was 4, and since then she has been dancing and competing—becoming South African Champion 8 times and representing South Africa at the World Championships.
In 2012 she left Pretoria for Nuremberg, Germany, where she found her dance partner Marius. Together they competed for Germany. And they were successful at it, becoming Professional German Champions in Showdance Latin, vice German Latin Champions, vice European Champions in Showdance Latin & Third in the World Championships. In 2014 and 2015, Oti’s TV career began as she became a pro dancer on Let’s Dance (RTL Television), which is the German version of Strictly.
The Strictly journey started in August 2015. In 2018 she travelled the UK on a 60-date tour called An Audience With together with the amazing Ian Waite and her husband Marius.
Oti‘s dream is to lead a beautiful dance school where she can share her love for dancing.
Marius Iepure
The trainer of champions
Marius Iepure was born in Satu Mare, Romania, in north-west Transylvania. He started to dance quite late, when he was 12 years old. In his early years he was more into football, which he enjoyed with his two siblings.
In 2001, at the age of 19, he left his home country and moved to Germany to follow his dream of becoming a great dancer. In 2014 and 2015 he starred in Let‘s Dance, the German version of Strictly, as a professional dancer. As a coach, his students have won prizes on TV shows such as Got to Dance and in several German Championships in Latin American dance. He is a successful dancer as well as an established trainer and coach.
In 2018, he performed on the BBC UK Strictly Live Tour as a professional dancer having previously danced on the Blackpool special and in An Audience With Ian Waite & Oti Mabuse as a professional dancer and choreographer.
Marius spends his life now between teaching in Germany and living and working in the UK. His dream is to coach dance champions!
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Let’s Dance
Germany, 2013
In the 2013 season of Let’s Dance (the German version of Strictly), Marius starred on the show for the first time and had an unforgettable experience. His partner was the singer Cindy Berger, a German folk music star.
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Let’s Dance
Germany, 2014
2014 was the year when Oti & Marius performed together on Lets Dance in Germany. Oti danced with the music star Daniel K. (RIP), and Marius was coupled with Cathy Fischer, the 2013 German football team’s WAG of the Year and wife of the football player Mats Hummels. Marius didn’t go far in the competition with his partner. Oti reached the quarter-finals in her first year of dancing on the show and impressed the German audience.
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Let’s Dance & Strictly
Germany & UK, 2015
This was the year when Oti worked on Let’s Dance (from March until June in Germany) and Strictly Come Dancing (from August until December in the UK). It was a hectic time but also amazing. She danced with the actor and TV presenter Nils Ruf (in Germany) and with the boxer (Anthony Ogogo) in the UK. She is the first South African dancer to appear on Strictly.
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Strictly Come Dancing
UK, 2016
Oti danced with the amazing Dany Mac and made it all the way to the grand final. One of the many highlights was the first score of 40 for the Samba in the history of Strictly and the most 10s in a single season. After finishing as runners-up on the main show they went on to win the BBC Live Arena Tour.
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Strictly Come Dancing
UK, 2017
Another year, another highlight: the first Paralympian to appear on Strictly was Jonnie Peacock and he was partnered with Oti. It was an honour and an inspiration to work with Jonnie and to embrace the challenge of changing the entire concept of the couple dance. This season gave a new meaning to the word ‘celebrity’ in Strictly and made this journey that bit more special.
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Strictly Come Dancing
UK, 2018
Oti made it all the way to week 10 with the England cricket legend Graeme Swann, who was dubbed “the Spirit Of Strictly” by the fans. Graeme and Oti showed the world how to transform a 100% non-dancer into an entertainer and a real dancer. The Tango was probably their best and most appreciated dance in this season, but it was with their carpool karaoke and hilarious Instagram stories that saw their great partnership on Strictly dance into the nation’s hearts.
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Strictly Come Dancing
UK, 2019
Oti’s 5th season on Strictly got off to a dramatic start, when her initial partner, Jamie Laing, hurt himself during the launch show. A few days later it became clear that he was unfit to take part, and so Oti was assigned a new partner, the actor Kelvin Fletcher.
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Marius & Oti are available to teach in London in the UK, but also in many cities in Germany. Whether it’s hobby or competitive dancing—we can make you a dancer!
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From presenting and hosting, to motivational speeches, dance shows, corporate events, coaching, teaching, or just to have a great chat: whatever you want to talk about, contact us and we will get back to you as quickly as we can.