Strictly Come Dancing's Oti Mabuse has revealed that doctors have forbidden her from dancing during her second pregnancy, describing the restriction as 'heartbreaking'. The former professional dancer, who is expecting her second child with husband Marius Lepure, opened up about the challenges during Thursday's episode of Loose Women.
Doctors Impose Strict Guidelines After Premature First Birth
Oti's first child, whose name has not been publicly disclosed, arrived 10 weeks prematurely, requiring six weeks in neonatal intensive care. As a result, doctors have enforced strict rules for this pregnancy, including a ban on dancing and a limit of 150 minutes of exercise per week.
'I'm not allowed to dance, no dancing. No gym, I've been limited to 150 minutes of exercise a week, which is very difficult,' Oti explained. 'Because my daughter and I's relationship was dancing. Also me throwing her up and running around, to see me not be able to do that and she just looks at me and says "where is my mum" and I'm looking at her thinking "I want to do these things but I can't" and that has been the most heartbreaking thing.'
Pregnancy Symptoms Force Career Setbacks
Oti admitted that this pregnancy has been far more challenging than her first. 'It's been a journey I would have to say. It's been completely different (to the first time),' she said. 'The first one I was in heaven - I was doing job after job, I was in my high heels. Now I'm sleeping, I'm sick and I have a bucket next to my bed.'
She added: 'I would wake up feeling like I did the London Marathon and if I do the London Marathon, just know I've been held hostage. It was hectic and you just don't feel like yourself anymore.'
Turning Down Television Opportunities
The star revealed that she has been forced to decline multiple television commitments due to sickness and fatigue. 'It was sickness, it was fatigue. It's also your ambition as a woman,' she said. 'I'm very ambitious and I want to take on all the work opportunities that I have but it made me so emotional and I was crying when I had to pull out of so many jobs. I was supposed to come on Loose and I was just like I can't.'
Oti's candid update highlights the physical and emotional toll of a high-risk pregnancy, even for a professional dancer accustomed to rigorous physical demands.
