Oti Mabuse has laughed off suggestions that her debut romance novel Slow Burn was inspired by fellow Strictly Come Dancing star Vito Coppola. The former professional dancer insisted the fictional leading man is nothing like him.
Appearing on the Table Manners podcast with hosts Jessie Ware and Lennie Ware, Oti discussed the inspiration behind the book's protagonist. When Jessie described it as “very racy, kind of exciting, sexy, gorgeous”, Oti explained: “It’s a spicy romance, I love that genre, about a couple. So, the guy is an Italian world dance champion. Very macho, you know, leading man.”
Lennie immediately asked: “Vito?” Oti quickly shut down the suggestion. “No, not Vito. No, the opposite of Vito. I would say Vito is very sweet. He’s like a puppy.”
The conversation then turned to whether another former Strictly professional could have inspired the character. Jessie asked: “Okay. So, are we going for the one that got kicked off? Giovanni?” Oti again dismissed the idea, replying: “No, we’re not going for Giovanni. No one on Strictly.”
She stressed that the fictional dancer was not based on any celebrity audiences would recognise. “Or we could say it’s a combination, but it’s no one actually. This person has not been on television. Thank goodness for that. But very macho, very leading man, very ‘this is my way’ and has always been a winner and very toxic in these ways.”
When Lennie jokingly asked whether the character had a “good bottom”, Oti played along, describing him as having a “very good bottom. Very good hair. Beautiful. Nice olive skin. Mama’s boy. Very big mama’s boy.”
Oti also opened up about her growing family after recently revealing she is expecting her second child. The dancer, who already shares a two-year-old daughter with her husband, told the podcast that her pregnancy has forced her to change some energetic activities. “She understands - we kind of let her know. She walks past me, and she says to my belly, 'Hi, baby',” Oti said. “I say to her, 'You know what's inside here, so you can't jump on Mummy'. Because I'm like that type of mum, I'll do like Strictly stuff, I'll throw her in the air, and I had to completely stop all of that, and so now she goes, 'Baby is in mama's belly'.”
The 35-year-old admitted her second pregnancy has been more challenging. Asked how she was feeling, Oti said: “I’m exhausted. The first three months felt like I signed up for the London Marathon. I would just be exhausted. And then I was nauseous. It was tough.”
Oti had kept the pregnancy private before announcing the news on Instagram earlier this month, writing: “Plot twist. We thought we had our hands full already, but life had even bigger plans. Baby No 2 is joining the dance party, and our hearts (and house) are about to get a whole lot fuller.”
