Oti spoke alongside her husband, the Romanian dancer Marius Iepure(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images for EE)

Strictly Come Dancing's Oti Mabuse broke down in tears over 'worst point of my life ever'

Strictly Come Dancing professional Oti Mabuse was left in floods of tears after experiencing the "worst point" of her life at what should have been the "happiest time of the year"

by · DevonLive

Oti Mabuse was reduced to tears after experiencing the "worst point" of her life during what is commonly celebrated as the "happiest time of the year".

The South African dancer, 34, and star of Strictly Come Dancing recently revealed the distressing ordeal on the We Need To Talk podcast with host Paul C. Brunson.

In an emotional exchange, Oti, accompanied by her husband, Romanian dancer Marius Iepure, shared the traumatic story of their baby's birth in December 2023. Following a daunting 16-hour labour, the newborn arrived prematurely.

The Dancing on Ice judge and former Strictly pro disclosed that both she and her child experienced grave health complications; Oti fought sepsis while her baby, who was born with an infection, had to stay in neonatal intensive care for six weeks, as reported by The Sun.

Reflecting on the traumatic experience, Oti expressed: "The hardest thing was...it was over Christmas and it felt like the whole nation was so happy. It's Christmas; It's the happiest time of the year and we love radio."

Oti recently opened up about the heartbreaking moment(Image: Joe Maher/Getty Images for the NTA's)

She continued: "I listen to radio all the time. And they're like, 'It's Christmas; it's the happiest time of the year! ' and I was like ,'This is the worst point of my life ever', and I hated everything."

With palpable pain, Oti remarked: "And I was just like, 'This is horrible. And there are people in the world that... we don't actually think that, for them, Christmas is the toughest time of the year, and I just...I cried."

She candidly confessed the depth of her despair, saying: "I cried for an hour. I was like, 'This is not fun. I hate Christmas in Europe. I hate it. I want to go home', and that was so, so, so, so tough."

Earlier she said: "I think a lot of parents say they have the baby, they keep them in hospital for two days and they go. We had the baby and the baby was sick.

"She couldn't breathe on her own. She couldn't eat on her own. She was really small. We couldn't hold her. So that was incredibly, incredibly tough."

Oti was diagnosed with sepsis and the baby spent six weeks in neonatal intensive care(Image: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for The National Lottery)

Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that occurs when the body's immune system overreacts to an infection and begins to damage the tissue and organs, according to the NHS.

Fortunately, both mother and child made a full recovery, with Oti expressing that she felt like she was in "safe hands" due to NHS staff, The Mirror reports.

In April, it was reported that Oti had hinted at having a second baby. In an interview with The Times, she said: "I'd like as many as I can afford."

She further added: "What I have been through shocked me, but it made me even stronger. For the first time in my life I have a purpose, which is for my family to have a good life."