Strictly’s Oti Mabuse is the EIGHTH star to reach in Australia forward of I’m A Celeb stint as she displays on ’emotional’ farewell together with her daughter

Strictly Come Dancing’s Oti Mabuse has become the eighth star to arrive at Brisbane Airport ahead of this year’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here.

The 34-year-old former Strictly professional won the BBC Saturday night show in 2019 with her partner and Emmerdale star, KeLvin Fletcher, and then in 2020 with the comedian, Bill Bailey.

Arriving Down Under, the Strictly star said: ‘I’m buzzing to be here. I’m sure the Jungle will be relaxing, every environment for me is relaxing, I’m from South Africa it we hang out with the spiders.’

Oti leaves behind her one-year-old daughter and said the goodbye was ’emotional but good’.

She added: ‘I’m excited to be here and that’s the most important thing. I’ve always wanted to be and see what’s around.’

Oti’s older sister, Motsi, is currently a judge on the 20th series of Strictly Come Dancing.

The Dancing on Ice judge’s arrival Down Under comes just days after she made a surprise return to the BBC dance show as a guest host on the spin-off It Takes Two alongside Fleur East.

Oti joined the show in 2015 but announced her departure in 2021 in pursuit of other TV roles.

As the lineup was unveiled, Oti, said she is looking forward to leaning into her adventurous side again. 

She said ‘Now I have had my baby daughter, I want to get back to the adventurous and fun Oti. I feel ready for a change and doing something completely different. I will have no make-up, concealer, lashes – it’s going to be nice to be laid back.’

Oti joked that she is also keen to catch up on the year’s worth of sleep she has lost and will also be teaching her campmates some dance moves. 

Last week, Oti appeared on Loose Women and recounted the ‘traumatic’ birth of her first child, a daughter, which left her battling sepsis and diabetes.

She and her husband, Marius Lepure, 41, became parents in November 2023 after their daughter was born prematurely with an infection and had to spend six weeks in intensive care.

She is pre-diabetic and was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 28 weeks, before also experiencing complications after the birth when she contracted sepsis.

Gestational diabetes is when you have high blood sugar during pregnancy, whereas pre-diabetes is when blood sugar levels are above the normal range, but not high enough to be diagnosed.

Discussing her daughter’s birth, which came eight weeks early, the TV personality recalled walking to the shops with her husband when her waters broke out of nowhere.

‘I was like ‘something is happening’ and he thought I was joking,’ she told the panel, ‘he thought I was pranking him.’

Oti gave birth naturally and said she was ‘singing Chicago the whole time,’ with the problems arising afterwards.

She explained: ‘Once I gave birth to her it became more traumatic, I had sepsis and I didn’t know. I had all these things, I had diabetes, I had pelvic pain so turning and getting up and walking was very painful.

‘Then I found out that I had sepsis. It was one thing over the other. We spent 10 minutes together and she was taken away with my husband and the doctors.

‘She was in the incubator and that was the first time we actually saw her. She was covered up and she had all these machines and wires and everything covering her face….

‘This premature world only comes to light when you’re going through it… It was a really, really scary time.’

On Monday, Melvin Odoom became the seventh star to touch down in Oz as stars continue to jet Down Under ahead of I’m A Celeb’s new series.

Commenting on the weather, he told MailOnline: ‘It looks lovely. It’s warmer than home. I’m just here to relax and not doing anything too strenuous.’ 

The DJ also admitted he was ready for a potential three weeks of outdoor living thanks to his love of live music. 

He added: ‘I’ve been camping before, but only at festivals.’ 

He joins Coleen Rooney, Love Island’s Maura Higgins and McFly’s Danny Jones in this year’s Jungle line-up.

He previously danced with Janette Manrara on the 2016 series of Strictly Come Dancing alongside Joel Dommett who is also part of the I’m A Celeb team this year presenting the spin-off show, Unpacked.

Rickie, Melvin and Charlie replaced the disgraced DJ, Charlie Sloth, to host his late Radio 1 show after he jumped on stage at the 2018 Aria Awards when he was beaten by Edith Bowman’s Soundtracking podcast.

The I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! lineup has been officially unveiled by ITV, with just six days to go until the new series.

While rumours have swirled for months about the stars set to be jetting to Australia for a three-week stay in the rat-infested camp, first look snaps have given fans a full glimpse at the lineup.

However, there are two names noticeably absent from the confirmed lineup, hinting that they are going to be late additions to the camp.

Maura Higgins and Reverend Richard Coles are also set to take part in the show, and are expected to be heading into the camp later in the series.

Leading the confirmed pack is Coleen Rooney, who has ditched her WAG glamour for the famous jungle get-up as this year’s highest-paid signing.