Theatre
Stuck In A Lift
Oti Mabuse thinks this interview might get her cancelled
Talking Strictly, eating chicken feet, and Cirque du Soleil with the Strictly star
Oti Mabuse wants everyone at her headline tour to have an emotional dance party.
“I think it’s about telling a story that people can connect to, but also them having a good time,” she says from her rehearsal studio. “The last tour I did was so emotional and so raw, so I want to keep that rawness and that honesty, but I also want people to dance and have a good time. I want tears and a good time.”
After a lifetime of performing and six seasons of Strictly Come Dancing, Mabuse knows a thing or two about entertaining an audience. Her Viva Carnival tour will head around the UK this summer, embracing dance as celebration and promising the ultimate summer party. Ahead of the tour, we got stuck in a lift with Mabuse to chat about her love for Beyoncé, why she didn’t make it as a waitress, and the South African way to eat an orange.
Who would you most like to be stuck in a lift with?
I wouldn’t want to be stuck in any lift in a situation, but if I had to be stuck with someone in a lift, it’d probably be Kevin Hart. I’d want to be stuck in a lift with him, because we would laugh. I would make fun of him. He would make fun of me… But I would learn a lot. I would probably wake up at 5am and go to the gym because of him. I think we’d have a good time, and time would pass by quickly.
Who would you least like to be stuck in a lift with?
You want to get me cancelled! There are a lot of people I don’t want to be stuck in a lift with!
What’s the weirdest interaction you’ve ever had with a famous person?
Oh God, I have weird interactions all the time with with famous people. The thing is, when you see someone on television, you always assume you know them, and then you just talk to them, and then you realise you have no idea who it is. I’ll tell you who the weirdest was. It was Martin Lewis, and we were at the ITV party, and I said hi to him, and I spoke to him, but I thought it was Dr Xand’s twin brother. It was the wrong person. I was talking medical stuff, and he then said to me, “I think you have the wrong person.” I went, “Oh my God, that’s the finance guy, not the doctor.” It only hit me once I’d done all my talking.
Hopefully you weren’t asking him for medical advice?
Do you know what I think we were talking about? I was doing Morning Live at the time, and it was about the strep virus that was spreading in kids, and I was going on and on. I was like, “Oh my god, all the kids are getting it. I know so many kids with strep.” He just looked at me like, “I think you think I’m someone else.” I’m like, “No, no, I was with your brother yesterday.” Now, when I watch his show, I switch the channel because I’m so embarrassed.
What’s the last live show you saw?
I went to watch Cirque du Soleil. It was amazing. It was really, really incredible. I wanted inspiration for the tour to see how they create art and tell stories without speech, which was beautiful because it’s like a different type of circus. It was all in Italian, and it was about death, and somehow I understood what was happening, and it was a celebration, and it felt good. And I threw a person in the sky. She came towards me. We were destined. I saw the balloons, and I was like, “Yes, I’m going to push you,” and I pushed the lady in the air. That was the best thing to happen to me this year.
What’s on your rider?
I don’t have a rider. Do you know that? I’ve never had a rider. Or apparently I do, but my agents do that. But if I had to create one, it probably would be something like a fizzy drink, which is not healthy. A fizzy drink, sushi, mango – love a mango – and then I love Jelly Babies. But the big ones. I want the big mega pack.
What’s the worst advice you’ve ever been given?
Be yourself. Because I can be ghetto, and that’s never a good thing. I did that on Big Breakfast. They were like, “How do you eat an orange?” and I showed them the South African way that I eat an orange, and it went all over the news. I was like, “I will never be myself again.”
What’s the South African way to eat an orange?
You put it on the floor, and then you roll it to get the juice out, or you throw it up against the wall, you squeeze it, squeeze it, squeeze it. Then you bite the top, and then you suck the juice out, and then you open it in the middle, and then you chew. Ghetto. I wouldn’t cut it. It just takes the soul out of the fruit.
What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?
I didn’t have bad jobs because I’ve worked as a dancer my whole life, but I did try being a waitress, and I realised I don’t like to be standing all day. That was tough, but it was tough because I am dramatic. It wasn’t tough because the job was tough. It was me.
If you had to have a song playing every time you walk into a room, what would it be?
It has to be Beyoncé. ‘Crazy In Love’. That song will always, always, always be a hit.
Who do you often get told you look like?
I often get told I look like my sister. I absolutely love it when people come to me and compliment me for being a judge on Strictly Come Dancing. It’s my favourite thing ever. Or they call me ‘Mobti’ or ‘Moti’, because either way, they got it right. Then when they see us together and they realise that she’s tiny and I’m taller than her, and we’re both dressed really badly, then they’re still confused and still call me Motsi.
What’s your most controversial food opinion?
Controversial food opinion, here we go. This is, again, the ghetto side. I love eating chicken feet. You hear the room go quiet? It’s a delicacy in South Africa, it’s nice. We call it maotwana. I have a Chinese friend, Nancy, who also loves chicken feet, so we nibble on chicken feet and the bones together. Oh, and chicken on the bone. That is the soul of the chicken.
You need a cooking show.
I do need a cooking show. I would love a show where people cook for me and I eat. That would be great.
What film have you re watched the most in your life?
The film that I’ve watched over and over and by no choice of my own, except having too much time, is The Holiday over Christmas, because I feel like it’s the only film that plays over and over and over again. That’s the one where I feel like I even know the music, the score music in the background. I can’t do Love, Actually because it’s too much, too much happening. I just need one or two storylines.
What did your 12-year-old self think that you’d be doing now?
Exactly what I’m doing. I started dancing when I was four, but by the age of 11, I was competing internationally. This tour is not something that I dreamed of. I think I always expected that I’d be living in Europe, still dancing, but by now I would be just teaching all day. But yeah, exactly what I’m doing. I’m doing what I’ve always been training to do.
Oti Mabuse’s Viva Carnival tour heads around the UK this June – find tickets here
