Oti Mabuse announces she is pregnant with her first child

The ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ star and her husband Marius Iepure said they ‘love our little bundle of joy so much already’

Oti Mabuse has announced that she is expecting her first chid with her husband, Marius Iepure.

The formerStrictly Come Dancing star, 33, revealed the happy news live on her ITV Breakfast Show on Saturday morning (26 August).

Mabuse and Iepure, both professional dancers, announced the pregnancy towards the end of the show, much to their guests’ and viewers’ surprise.

The TV star said: “Speaking of things you didn’t know at home, we have a little something for all of you, we’ve been holding some good news. We’re having a baby!”

The couple then hugged, appearing ecstatic about the prospect of welcoming a new addition to their family, as the crew and audience cheered.

Following the episode, Mabuse shared a series of photographs on Instagram, showing her cradling her growing baby bump as she and Iepure beamed happily at one another.

She wrote in the caption: “Our ‘yes’ year is getting better and better and so is our little family…

“This is new for us scarier than swimming with sharks, jumping off cliffs or even swinging from bridges but the best news we could have ever ask for.

“We love our little bundle of joy so much already... and can’t wait to see what our future will now look like as family of three plus Leo.

“It’s been a beautiful journey so far with close friends and family and nearly over but we have learnt a lot a long the way…”

She did not specify when the baby is due, but added: “Christmas is about to get even louder.”

The couple were quickly congratulated by friends and fans, who were both shocked and delighted by the news.

In a comment, Rylan Clark wrote: “WHAT OMG WHAT [red heart emojis]”, while Laura Whitmore added: “Congrats you two! So exciting xxx.”

Kym Marsh described the post as “beautiful”. Australian dancer Dianne Buswell left a series of heart-eyed emojis and said:”Congratulations babe.”

Mabuse and Iepure met in Germany as dance partners when she left Pretoria, South Africa, in 2012 and moved to Nuremberg, Germany.

Together, they competed for Germany in show dance Latin. He proposed to her in 2014 on her birthday, and they married later that same year.

In 2017, the Dancing On Ice judge revealed how her partner was “annoying the life out of me” by behaving nervously on the day he proposed to her.

She wrote on Instagram: “Three years ago today this wonderful CRAZY man was annoying the life out of me because he was acting nervous (and yes I let him know I was annoyed) but it was only because he was nervous as he was GOING TO PROPOSE.”

Mabuse went on the win Strictly in 2019 and 2020 with Emmerdale star Kelvin Fletcher and comedian Bill Bailey respectively.

In 2021, she replaced John Barrowman as a judge on Dancing on Ice. Her sister Motsi Mabuse was a judge on the German version of Strictly, before joining the BBC series in 2019 to replace Dame Darcey Bussell.