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Oti Mabuse and Marius Iepure on the Break The Routine set WATCH ON YOUTUBE

22 OCT 2026 · 58 MIN

The Dream of a Dance Academy in Africa

with OTI MABUSE

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About this episode

Oti Mabuse grew up dancing in a newly free South Africa, walked away from a civil engineering degree and crossed continents to become a two time Strictly champion. In this episode with her husband and host Marius Iepure, she opens up about what Germany taught her, the brutal realities girls face in DanceSport, protecting her daughter from the industry, and why African dance carries a spirituality that ballroom often forgets.

A warm, honest conversation about belonging, ambition and building something of your own.

Chapters

  1. 00:00Intro
  2. 02:15Leaving Engineering to Chase Dance
  3. 10:13How Germany Transformed Her Career
  4. 18:48Waiting to Be Accepted in Rooms
  5. 23:48Growing Inside the Strictly World
  6. 30:22The Hard Reality for Girls in Dance
  7. 32:43Protecting Her Daughter from the Industry
  8. 36:04Apartheid and South African Dance History
  9. 41:07The Nelson Mandela Showdance
  10. 45:33African Dance Roots and Spirituality
  11. 56:17The Dream of a Dance Academy in Africa

Reels from this episode

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Transcript

The full conversation, 499 passages

00:00

Hello and welcome to Break the Routine. We have a very special guest today. Someone who is a dance champion, a TV presenter, someone who redefined her career what a dancer can be. She is born in South Africa. She moved to Germany and now in the UK. Uh she did quite a few TV appearances next to building a dance studio and teaching thousand of dancers. Now we have someone who I can call my wife. The very special Otimus in the house. Say babe.

00:32

What do you mean you can call me your wife? I am your wife [laughter].

00:35

Yeah. I'm proud to call you my wife.

00:37

Oh, thank you. The word can is like a possibility. You can or you cannot. And you don't really have a choice. Yeah.

00:43

Now I don't have a choice.

00:44

I babys [laughter] can.

00:47

Thank you so much for doing this. I know you're stressed.

00:51

I'm not stressed. I'm not the one sweating. I'm excited to be here.

Transcribed automatically from the episode audio, so some names may be misspelled. Tap a time to play that moment.