Former Strictly star Ore Oduba has opened up about the devastating death of his sister following the split from wife, Portia.
The 39-year-old presenter, who won the hit BBC show in 2016, appeared on John Reynolds’ Extraordinary Life Stories podcast and looked back on the heartbreaking tragedy.
Ore Oduba talks heartbreaking loss of his sister
Ore explained the family had “been through a really difficult year” and that he was “very ready for that to kick off a new chapter” in his life.
The former CBBC host shared that his father, who is a lawyer in his eighties, lives in Nigeria and doesn’t see him often. They were last reunited in 2022, when Ore visited him for the first time in three years after the coronavirus pandemic.
Explaining how “grateful” Ore was for everything his dad gave his family, he admitted he wasn’t prepared for his sister Lola’s death.
In April, Lola died by suicide. When reflecting on the tragic moment, he revealed they had left a note for loved ones. In the letter, they came out as non-binary.
“She has been with me every day since. My sister is non-binary; they told us in their goodbye letter,” he explained.
“They’ve been with me every day since, and what my sister did in choosing to find a peace in death that they couldn’t find in life – that was strength. That was courage, and that was brave.”
He continued: “And having gone through the last four or five years of their life and hearing about their struggles physically and emotionally, when actually my sister did more living in the actual five years of their life than the previous 32, and still made a decision that they couldn’t carry on living in this world.”
Ore said what Lola “did for all of us in those last weeks” had given him the “strength every day”.
It also reminded him to “make the most of every single second I have left”.
‘I had to be prepared to lose everything in order to save myself’
Last year, Ore and his wife announced their separation after getting married in 2015. They share two children, son Roman, six, and daughter Genie, three.
Looking back on their split, Ore said he had to be “prepared to lose everything” to “save myself”. In his case, he focused on his purpose, which included raising his kids and living his “true authentic self”.
He revealed he “started very much at the bottom about 12 or 18 months ago”. Admitting the past now appears as a blur, he said he doesn’t “really recognise anything before now”.
Since 2023, Ore has been taking part in therapy. He also got back in touch with my faith in Christianity after he “stopped praying and believing beyond”.
“My life was going up in smoke before my very eyes and I didn’t know what to do and as doors started shutting around me, the one door that was never closed was the Church. And it started again from there,” he added.
Earlier this year, Ore addressed his sexuality after a rainbow emoji appeared next to his name on Instagram. The TV star explained it was a tribute to his late sister Lola, and her gender identity and sexuality.
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