OTI MABUSE was overcome with emotion during a recent interview on The One Show.
The former Strictly Come Dancing professional has recently released a new documentary, Oti Mabuse: My South Africa.
Oti appeared on The One Show
She spoke highly of her mother and what she’d been through
She was on the BBC show to discuss the documentary, which goes back to her roots and sees her highlight her own introduction to dance.
During her interview with presenters Alex Jones and Jermaine Jenas, Oti started to get choked up as she discussed the struggles she’d been through.
A clip of the documentary was shown, and Alex says to Oti: “You mentioned Strictly there, and one of the moments that really stands out is when you look back at footage of dancing as a little girl.
“You sort of have this epiphany, don’t you, and you realise how tough it must have been for your mum and dad to make sure that you got to dance on those dance floors.”
The dancer replies: “Yeah, we were really really protected as kids because South Africa was so clear about their racial lines.”
South Africa was ruled by apartheid law until 1994, when it was abolished.
Oti was only four years old when it was abolished, but the separation of races was rife for years following.
She continued: “People were not allowed to come together.
“And now in my 30s watching those videos back and going, ‘Oh my goodness’. We were the only black kids on the floor.”
The dancer added: “No one looked like us, so I can’t imagine how hard it was for my mum to walk into those venues with these three little black girls.”
Oti spoke highly of her mum, explaining that as a child, she was clueless to what her mum went through: “For her when she speaks about it she’s like, ‘It was hard because people were marking you down because of the way you look’.
“You couldn’t afford to go out of town to get lessons, the dresses, I had to make them myself.
“So what I thought was real was not what was happening around me.”
The TV star told Alex and Jermaine that she was getting “emotional” recalling the struggles her family faced.
“I had no idea that my family in the middle of the night was moved from where they lived into another town and was just given a tent and told to survive,” she said.
“I am getting emotional now. It’s emotional because your parents are your heroes.
“They’re the people that love you. You look up to them you stay with them because eventually, you want to take care of them.”
Oti added: “And when you hear that they went through abuse like my mum, all she knows is to fight.
“She had to fight racial segregation, she had to fight for us as girls, and now she’s still fighting.”
Oti concluded: “Dancing saved me.”
The One Show airs weekdays at 7pm on BBC One.
Alex and Jeremaine interviewed Oti
