Pro dancer Oti Mabuse left London this year, in search of greener climes. She and her husband, Romanian-German Latin and ballroom dancer Marius Lepure, now life in Berkshire with their baby girl.
They welcomed their daughter in November 2023. Oti later revealed that she endured a 16-hour labour with her baby, who was two months premature.
Oti – on Saturday Kitchen Best Bites this weekend (June 29) – has spoken at length about the “toxic relationship” she and many other dancers have with their bodies, and how this affects their self-worth.
So she tells herself: “No, you are good. You are perfect. You have had a baby.” And now, because of her 18-month-old baby, Oti Mabuse lives in the Royal County of Berkshire.
Oti Mabuse relocated out of London because of baby daughter
Full name Otlile Mabuse, Oti moved westward from London to the Royal County of Berkshire in the spring of 2025.
She told House Beautiful magazine in May that she and Marius made the decision because of the ways it would benefit their young daughter.
“Better schools, better environment, better hospitals,” she said. Simple as that.
They live in a detached house built in the 18th century, “out in the sticks” in a village near Reading. It’s cute, she said. And old. Really old.
“It’s my sanctuary. I love coming home – it’s where I’m most relaxed, most myself and where I make the most memories. It’s also where I’m frustrated because every day there’s something to clean!”
Oti’s flower allergy has led to candles being ‘literally all over the house’
Oti Mabuse is allergic to flowers. She has talked about it once or twice before. She posted a video to her Instagram once of the flowers her husband had bought her as a lockdown surprise.
“I love them, I love them,” she insisted, before dropping the bombshell that she’s allergic to them. “So even though I love them, I can’t touch them,” she said.
Marius once intercepted a gift of flowers from Oti’s 2018 Strictly Come Dancing partner Graeme Swann.
“I remember when he met Graeme,” the Express quotes her as saying, “Graeme is one of my best friends now, but he knew nothing about me.
“He came with a big bouquet of flowers and said: ‘Oti, I am so excited for our journey.’ Out of nowhere my husband came in, took the whole bouquet out and said: ‘She’s allergic to flowers.'”
Oti later told the Loose Women panel she found it “sexy”.
“It’s sexy, when you are standing there and your man is threatening your dance partner. I love it, I’m like, that’s my man.”
One of the consequences of Oti’s flower allergy is that she receives candles. Lots of candles.
“They’re literally all over the house!” she told House Beautiful. But that’s no bad thing. She likes a warm house, and if it smells nice, that’s a bonus.
Catch Oti on Saturday Kitchen Best Bites on BBC Two at 9:30am on Sunday (June 29).
Read more: Dancing On Ice star Oti Mabuse on ‘struggles’ over the way she looks: ‘It’s actually quite hurtful’
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