Oti Mabuse has waded into the Strictly Come Dancing’s recent bullying controversy, as she stressed that BBC series was first and foremost an entertainment show.

The dancer, 34, is known for starring on the show from series 13 to 19, winning two years in a row in 2019 and 2020, before leaving in 2022.

In the wake of her exit, the hit dancing series has been engulfed in a number of headline-hitting scandals with increased scrutiny around the professional dancers’ training methods.

The controversy erupted in January last year, when actress Amanda Abbington accused pro partner Giovanni Pernice of abuse after she unexpectedly quit the show just five weeks in.

This was followed by numerous allegations of abusive behaviour against Graziano Di Prima, who was accused of verbally and physically abusing his celebrity partner Zara McDermott.

Several stars spoke about the rigorous training for the show, with many opining that it came from the intense pressure on the pros to win, with judge Anton Du Beke admitting the Strictly dancers were ‘enormously compeтιтive’.

Oti Mabuse has waded into the Strictly Come Dancing’s recent bullying controversy, as she stressed that BBC series was first and foremost an entertainment show (seen on show in 2020)

The controversy erupted in January last year, when actress Amanda Abbington accused pro partner Giovanni Pernice of abuse after she unexpectedly quit (seen on show in 2023)

This was followed by numerous allegations of abusive behaviour against Graziano Di Prima , who was accused of verbally and physically abusing celebrity partner Zara McDermott (seen) 

The BBC battled to save the series and introduced new measures aiming to ‘strengthen welfare and support’ behind the scenes.

But Oti has now broken her silence on the scandal for the first time and disputed the narrative that the professionals were put under too much pressure to win by bosses, insisting they needed to ‘own up’ and admit the pressure came from within.

Speaking to G2, she said: ‘[The pressure is] something that comes from us, and that’s something that we have to own up to.’

She stressed that Strictly was and always has been predominantly an entertainment show rather than a dance compeтιтion, with the strict training methods being dependent on the pros’ individual upbringing and dancing styles.

Oti added: ‘And your job is to give joy to people. Anything else, I think would be a personal desire, and how you work is how you work, and also how you’ve been brought up.’

She’s been open about feeling the pressure herself, telling Paul Brunson in his We Need To Talk podcast last year, how her husband had once found her crying and fully clothed on the floor of the shower because of the stress.

But she explained the weight she felt was because she was representing African women on screen, not from bosses, and it was that which made her the only pro to win the show twice in a row.

She said: ‘I had a lot on my shoulders, like I said. I don’t just represent myself – I stand for something as well, in terms of who is watching me and what it implies. I needed the, “Oti, maybe you’re not pushing yourself hard enough. You’ve got to push yourself a little harder.” When I pushed myself the hardest, I won twice.’

Oti has weighed in on the scandal for the first time, disputing the narrative that the pros were put under too much pressure to win by bosses (seen with Ugo Monye in 2021)

She stressed that Strictly is an entertainment show rather than a dance compeтιтion, with the strict training methods being dependent on the pros’ individual upbringing and dancing styles (seen with Bill Bailey in 2020)

In August, former dancer and now judge on the show, Anton admitted the professionals were ‘enormously compeтιтive’ as he weighed in on bullying row.

Asked whether Strictly has become too compeтιтive, he insisted the show has always been that way due to the nature of ballroom dancing. 

He explained: ‘Well it was compeтιтive then. We were all compeтιтive dancers who had all walked off the compeтιтive ballroom into the studio. 

‘It was enormously compeтιтive then I mean nobody knew we would be going 20 years later. We were there for Strictly to be like “this is what we do, ballroom dancing”‘ 

While Les Dennis, who starred on the 2023 series alongside Amanda and Zara, admitted that while his overall experience was ‘great,’ the show is ‘the hardest thing ever’ and that the pros ‘want to push you’.

The comedian added: ‘I used to joke to friends that I felt like I was in Black Swan. It is tough, your professional partner wants to win as much as you do and they want to push you outside of your comfort zone.’

Dame Arlene Phillips, who was a judge on the show from 2004 to 2008, also stated the pressure on Strictly’s professional dancers is ‘on another level’ compared to 20 years ago.

She said: ‘The expectation wasn’t as high [compared to early series]. The actual process was high and tough, dancing is tough, we go through a lot with our bodies. 

In August, former dancer and now judge on the show, Anton admitted the professionals were ‘enormously compeтιтive’ as he weighed in on bullying row  (pictured) 

Les Dennis, who starred on the 2023 series too, admitted that while his experience was ‘great,’ the show is ‘the hardest thing ever’ and that the pros ‘want to push you’ (seen with Nancy Xu) 

‘But its huge now. People and even professionals catapult into fame. So the pressure now for the professionals is their own personal fame.

‘They all have their own shows now. Nothing like that ever happened. The stakes weren’t as high, now the pressure is another level.’

In one interview, Amanda compared the dance show to ‘the trenches’ telling Channel 4 News that BBC producers had been left ‘horrified’ by clips that also allegedly exhibited ‘humiliating behaviour of a Sєxual nature’.

Giovanni was cleared of ten out of Amanda’s 16 allegations when the BBC probe concluded in September but remained absent for the last edition of the series.

The BBC’s report cleared him of the most serious accusations of physical aggression, but upheld some of verbal bullying and harᴀssment.

Despite bosses not upholding allegations that Giovanni was physically aggressive, it did uphold some of actress Amanda’s complaints of verbal bullying and harᴀssment.

The BBC also agreed with she that at times he appeared to be giving her overly negative feedback.

Meanwhile Graziano was axed from the show in July after a video of the his mistreatment of Zara in training was brought to the attention of the BBC.

Dame Arlene Phillips , who was a judge from 2004 to 2008, also stated the pressure on Strictly ‘s professional dancers is ‘on another level’ compared to 20 years ago (seen in August) 

In one interview, Amanda compared the dance show to ‘the trenches’ telling Channel 4 News that BBC producers had been left ‘horrified’ by clips that also allegedly exhibited ‘humiliating behaviour of a Sєxual nature’ (seen in July) 

Zara broke her silence on Graziano’s sacking in a lengthy statement, writing on Instagram that while much of her time on Strictly ‘was everything I could have dreamt of’ inside the training room with Graziano, there were ‘particular incidents which are incredibly distressing’.

Read More Strictly’s Amanda Abbington isn’t sure if people ‘like’ her anymore after the Giovanni Pernice bullying row which she claims made her out to ‘be the villain’ – but insists she has ‘no regrets’

Zara explained that she didn’t report the incidents at the time as she was ‘scared’ of backlash.

Instead it was junior production staff who came forward to share what they had witnessed as the investigation into pro dancer Giovanni was taking place.

Graziano later admitted he ‘crossed the line’, but denied spitting at Zara, and insisted his behaviour was one-off incident. 

In July, Mark Borkowski, a spokesperson for Graziano, told BBC News: ‘There is never a time when kicking, or any sense of that is right. And he knows that. He knows he’s made a mistake. He apologised at the time.’

Referring to the media reports, Mark added: ‘But he doesn’t recognise some of the issues surrounding it. The descriptions of what is being commented online, and how he remembers it, are not aligned.’ 

In response Zara’s spokesperson said: ‘It’s a matter of public record that the BBC deemed the conduct to be so severe that they removed him from the show immediately.

‘Zara has already confirmed in a statement released on her social media earlier this week that the reported conduct was not a singular incident.’

Giovanni was cleared of ten out of Amanda’s 16 allegations when the BBC probe concluded in September but remained absent for the last edition of the series (pictured in September)

Meanwhile Graziano was axed from the show in July after a video of the his mistreatment of Zara in training was brought to the attention of the BBC (pictured together on show) 

According to show insiders, video footage of Graziano mistreating Zara gave bosses no choice but to cancel his contract.

However, MailOnline revealed that Strictly production staff raised concerns about Graziano’s conduct in 2022, but bosses only went as far as to issue quiet warnings to him.

A source from the show said: ‘There were multiple occasions where both physical and verbal attacks were made. It was more physical than verbal, but all of it was dreadful.’

It was not until staff got hold of a video allegedly showing Graziano repeatedly hitting Zara– nine months after their initial complaint – that he was fired.

Addressing his departure on Instagram, Graziano wrote: ‘I deeply regret the events that led to my departure from Strictly. My intense pᴀssion and determination to win might have affected my training regime.

‘Respecting the BBC HR process, I understand it’s best for the show that I step away.’

He continued: ‘While there are aspects of this story involving external influences that I can’t discuss at this time, I remain committed to being strong for my family and friends. I wish the Strictly family and the BBC nothing but success in the future.’

He concluded the post: ‘I also want to thank everyone who has supported my career, both professionally and personally. When the time is right, I will share my story.’