Oti Mabuse 'looks at herself in mirror' to reassure she 'looks perfect'
Oti Mabuse has said she has a "toxic" relationship with her body and that she has to look at herself in the mirror for reassurance that she looks "perfect".
Oti Mabuse looks at herself in the mirror for reassurance that she looks "perfect" amid a "toxic" body relationship.
The 34-year-old star admitted there are times in her life when she is "not happy with what I look like", but after considering what her body has been through - gaining and shedding weight, as well as having her baby daughter, of which the name has never been publicly revealed, with husband Marius Iepure - she has realised "it's okay to not look perfect".
Oti - who is Prima Magazine's June issue cover star - told the publication: "My body has had its ups and downs; the gaining of the weight, the losing of the weight, having the baby. It's been such a rollercoaster, but I think it's normal to experience that as a woman.
"Yes, there are some moments where I feel, 'Oh my gosh, I'm not happy with what I look like,' and then I have to say to myself in the mirror, 'No, you are good. You are perfect. You have had a baby, you've had a human being come out of you. It's okay to not look perfect, as long as you move, as long as you're trying to be healthy.'"
The former 'Strictly Come Dancing' professional always thought the most successful people spinning around a dancefloor were thin and Oti believed that she had to look like that to compete.
She explained: "Growing up, I always said that the people who did the best were the thinnest, and you always felt like, 'If I need to be successful, I need to look like that.'
"And I think it's not just Latin and ballroom dancers, it's across the board. All dancers, we always feel like that.
"And so we then have this very toxic relationship with our bodies, and even when you walk into the room, and if you've lost weight, they go, 'Oh my gosh, she looks so good.'
"And it's like, 'Wait, do I look good because I'm small, or do I just look good in general?'
"Words hold power over a lot of us as women."
The former 'Dancing on Ice' judge said she will always be on a journey to "rebuild" the relationship with her body, and she hopes that talking about it will "create more of a conversation" around body positivity.
The star continued: "So, it's trying to rebuild that relationship, and it's a continuing journey. It will be every day, I guess, for the rest of my life, that I'll just have to work on that relationship and, hopefully, by talking about it, it's going to create more of a conversation around the fact that we need to build our relationship with our bodies in a very healthy way.
"To know that health is wealth and that we should be able to dance at any size."
The June 2025 issue of Prima is now on sale.
