Former Strictly Come Dancing professional Oti Mabuse has dismissed speculation that her debut novel was influenced by fellow Strictly star Vito Coppola, maintaining the character at the heart of the book bears no resemblance to him.
Speaking on the Table Manners podcast with presenters Jessie Ware and Lennie Ware, Oti addressed her first romance novel Slow Burn and the inspiration behind its male protagonist.
When Jessie characterised the book as "very racy, kind of exciting, sexy, gorgeous", Oti clarified: "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."
This immediately led Lennie to enquire: "Vito?"
Oti swiftly rejected the notion. "No, not Vito. No, the opposite of Vito. I would say Vito is very sweet. He's like a puppy," reports the Mirror.
The discussion then shifted to whether another ex-Strictly professional might have provided inspiration for the character.
"Okay. So, are we going for the one that got kicked off? Giovanni?" Jessie asked.
Oti once more refuted the suggestion, responding: "No, we're not going for Giovanni. No one on Strictly."
She continued to emphasise that the fictional dancer was not modelled on any celebrity viewers would recognise.
She said: "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 enquired whether the character possessed a "good bottom", Oti happily obliged, describing him as having a "very good bottom. Very good hair. Beautiful. Nice olive skin. Mama's boy. Very big mama's boy."
Beyond her literary project, Oti has also been discussing her expanding family following her recent announcement that she is expecting her second child.
The dancer, who already has a two-year-old daughter with her husband, revealed on the podcast that her pregnancy has meant adjusting some of the lively pursuits she typically shares with her little one.
"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 also confessed that her second pregnancy has proved more difficult than anticipated.
When asked how she was coping, 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 her pregnancy under wraps before sharing 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."
