Oti Mabuse

Oti Mabuse0:01

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.

Presenter0:04

Hello, I'm Lauren Laverne and this is the Desert Island Discs podcast. Every week I ask my guests to choose the eight tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take with them if they were cast away to a desert island. And, for rights reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast. I hope you enjoy listening.

Presenter0:44

My castaway this week is the dancer and television presenter Oti Mabusi. Her adventures on the dance floor have captivated millions. She's the only professional in the 20-year history of Strictly Come Dancing to lift the glitter ball two years on the trot. She was also the winning mentor on both series of BBC One's Greatest Dancer, won the South African Latin American Championships eight times, and recently made her debut as a judge on ITV's Sunday night spectacular Dancing on Ice. The story behind the sequence is less well known, however. She was born near Pretoria in 1990 and grew up during Nelson Mandela's presidency, following her two elder sisters into dance. She made her first appearance at an international competition in Blackpool when she was just 11. The first trophy she won was made of a cola bottle, and her mother, a primary school teacher, worked extra jobs and even learned to sew to support her passion. However, she drew the line at allowing her youngest daughter to embark on a career as a dancer without a backup plan, which explains the civil engineering degree she studied for, though perhaps those skills will come into their own when she's knocking up a shelter on her desert island. She says, I genuinely think people don't know their own potential until someone comes and demands it of you, saying, I see more. I believe in you.

Presenter2:02

Ootimabusi, welcome to Desert Island Discs. Thank you for having me. I once heard you describe dance as two bodies creating one movement, which I love. And that partnership between the two dancers is so important, isn't it? What are the most important qualities for a dance partner to have for you?

Oti Mabuse2:04

Yeah.

Oti Mabuse2:19

For me, I think it's first the chemistry. There has to be something that is unexplainable, that is untouchable, that the two have. That chemistry, whether it's friendship, whether it's love, whether it's passion, it sparks so much because the goals and the intentions are aligned. And from there on, we can do whatever we want.

Presenter2:44

And it's lovely to watch those partnerships, those friendships develop. Yes. You won strictly in twenty nineteen with the actor Kelvin Fletcher and then in twenty twenty your partner was the comedian Bill Bailey. Not at first glance necessarily an obvious dance champion, as much as we all adore him, of course. Did you think that the pair of you would be winners when you took your fur

Oti Mabuse2:59

Bruh

Speaker 12:59

Because we're

Oti Mabuse3:05

Steps onto the dance floor with Bill. Absolutely not. I remember just having deep conversations and I was like, the whole point of Strictly and what we love so much about Strictly is that Strictly is that one place where everything is possible. We had the lovely Rose come on. She is ailing Alice this year. And she won, you know. That's the first person on Strictly with a disability to actually win.

Presenter3:22

Yeah.

Oti Mabuse3:30

And for so many years you would have thought that was impossible. But on Strictly it is. Bill was the oldest winner on Strictly and l as you said, at first glance you wouldn't think it's possible. And then he does it.

Oti Mabuse3:45

It's the magic of Strickland.

Presenter3:46

OT, I think we should dive straight into your music choices today. Disc number one, what have you chosen and why?

Oti Mabuse3:49

Yes.

Oti Mabuse3:53

Lose My Breath by Beyoncé from the Homecoming album. And I love this song. Just before I go on, every time I get riddled with nerves, and this song pumps me up. You know, when they say stand and do the Wonder Woman pose, this song is that for me. I'm not obviously going to stand in the middle of the strictly dance floor standing like Wonder Woman. I'm not going to do that.

Oti Mabuse4:15

But backstage before I go on or first thing in the morning, I put the song on and it's the words that really get me pumped up and and excited and feeling like I can do anything.

Oti Mabuse4:42

Maybe it's my friend.

Oti Mabuse4:43

If you can't make me sound like a bit of this drum, I ask the sun.

Oti Mabuse4:50

Hey, really well.

Oti Mabuse4:51

Like we can't make this shade Like the beer is groomed Don't have no Uh

Speaker 14:57

Yeah.

Oti Mabuse4:58

Yeah.

Presenter5:00

Lose My Breath by Beyoncé with Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. Odima Busi, being one of the professional dancers on Strictly puts you in the spotlight in more ways than one. Researching for our interview today, there is so much press coverage about you and so much of it is speculative. How do you feel about your celebrity status?

Oti Mabuse5:21

I know that people are watching all the time. One thing that made me realize that was when I was picking up my dog's poop in the park and the next day it was in the daily

Oti Mabuse5:34

And I was like, really? Honestly. It would have been worse if you'd been in for not picking it up, though. Yeah.

Presenter5:39

Yeah.

Oti Mabuse5:41

But it was seven in the morning. It was probably the only thing that I I have in my life where, you know, sometimes you just need to center yourself. We just go walking, my dog and I, and dogs do what dogs do. And yes, I pick up after my dog.

Oti Mabuse5:57

And you just don't expect little things like that to be seen and then people commenting.

Presenter6:04

Oti, for people who describe themselves as having two left feet, do you think anyone can develop the ability to dance?

Oti Mabuse6:10

Anyone, everyone. And I think that's why shows like Dance on Ice and Strictly are so popular is because there's this element of wanting to be whisked away in the walls on a foxtrot or skating and just gliding on the ice and and feeling like you're on cloud line. Anyone can do it. You just have to really just be brave enough to look up a dance school and take the first step. Not everybody is going to look like Frederis Dei or Gin Kelly.

Oti Mabuse6:42

In a week?

Oti Mabuse6:44

And strictly kind of makes it look like it it does because we do it in seven days. But what people don't see is that it is all day, every day.

Presenter6:54

It's time for disc number two, Ozie. What have you chosen?

Oti Mabuse6:57

Disc number two is My African Dream by Vicki Sampson. This song makes me so emotional and it always reminded me of the journey that South Africa went through, the history, is still going through, and how that relates in my life and how strong people needed to be.

Oti Mabuse7:17

In order to be free.

Oti Mabuse7:20

And it makes me so proud to be South African. It makes me proud to know that I get to bring a bit of my culture, my country to England and hopefully representing South Africans in the best way possible.

Presenter7:38

RAAAAAAAA

Speaker 17:41

Come here.

Speaker 17:42

I am breaking free.

Speaker 17:49

There's nothing to fire on

Speaker 17:54

My apple tree

Oti Mabuse8:00

It's a dream that we can follow

Presenter8:06

Vicki Sampson and My African Dream. So, Simobusi, let's go back to the beginning then, shall we? You were born in Mabapane, Pretoria, South Africa, 1990, the year that Nelson Mandela was released from prison. And you grew up in a very different South Africa from the one that your parents grew up in. Tell me a little bit about them. Let's start with your mum, Doodoo. She's a teacher.

Speaker 18:11

And shall we? Yes.

Oti Mabuse8:12

Uh

Oti Mabuse8:28

Yes, a force of nature, my mom. And growing up, it wasn't easy. She was in the 1976 riots when the youth of South Africa stormed and they refused to learn an Afrikaans anymore. And they wanted to be taught in English and in a language that they understood. And they were standing up against the government. But it made her so strong and fight for us. When we grew up, she was very strict. Like, we were not allowed to do anything. The only thing we did was go to school, do sports, weekends. We didn't even have weekends off. We were dancing. And she just didn't want us to grow up and feel like we didn't have opportunities. And she wanted to make sure that we were always busy so that we were never in the streets. We weren't getting up to any mischief. So dance was a way to.

Presenter9:20

To keep you busy, but it had also been a passion that she'd loved, something she'd always wanted to pursue, but not been able to.

Oti Mabuse9:27

The opportunities weren't there for them. There were no dance schools, they were not dance teachers, it was very segregated as well. And she always loved it. She always wanted to do it. She always

Oti Mabuse9:39

wanted to wear those big ballroom dresses and have her hair done. But also in those years black people weren't allowed to. They weren't allowed to even be in the same room or n the same dance floor as white people. And one day she was old and she was working as a secretary.

Speaker 19:47

They went.

Oti Mabuse9:59

And she heard ball music playing and she saw a dance competition and she was like, This is such a shame that I couldn't do it, but I'm gonna see if one of my daughters will. And she then took Mutsi and Mutzi fell immediately in love with dancing. And Mutsi's my oldest sister. Second sister wasn't so bothered by it.

Oti Mabuse10:26

Uh

Presenter10:26

So this is pimp, but that's pimp.

Oti Mabuse10:27

Pimelop, because obviously there was still a lot of segregation. This was before Nasmadilla was released from jail.

Presenter10:34

Because there's a a ten year gap, isn't there, between

Oti Mabuse10:36

Yeah, but

Presenter10:37

The three of you so you're considerably younger, yeah.

Oti Mabuse10:40

I wasn't born yet when they started dancing and there was no one teaching black kids how to dance where we lived. And so my mum was like, Right, the preschool where I work, I'm going to turn that into a dance school. I'm going to get my daughters to practice there. And because she the community where we grew up, Mabupani, wasn't really the safest. There were a lot of taxi riots, it was really dangerous. And she also wanted something for the kids in the neighborhood also to have where they would be safe, where they would be learning, where they can feel free and be kids. That arts and culture is her thing. If she lived in the UK, she probably would have been a Western star.

Oti Mabuse11:21

So then she took all the kids in the neighborhood and she put them into dancing. She then realized that after rehearsals it's really late, you can't walk home. So then she started her own transport company, which would take all the kids from their schools, wherever they went to school,

Oti Mabuse11:41

We pick them up, take them straight to the dance school where they would all learn and be there, do their homework, then they practice, then from there take them straight home. So parents never really needed to worry as well, because then they had childcare as well. Wow. And she did this for years. So it was all I saw. It was all I saw. And I was like, I can do this. OT.

Presenter12:03

No wonder with a a start like that that you've continued and and fell so hard in love with dance. I think we'd better have some more music though. What's your third choice today?

Presenter12:14

Yeah.

Oti Mabuse12:14

A Song for Mama by Boyce Tuman. This song it reminds me about my mom and how amazing she is, how determined she is and really how lucky I am to have her as my mom. She always fought for us and she taught us to fight for ourselves and not take no for an answer and be as ambitious and dedicated and competitive as we are. She said you have to be otherwise there's no other way to survive in life.

Speaker 112:43

You know I love you, mama

Oti Mabuse12:48

Mama, you're the queen of my heart.

Oti Mabuse12:54

Your love is like tears from the star

Oti Mabuse12:59

Yes, it's here, mama, I just want you to know

Presenter13:04

Oh.

Presenter13:07

Loving you is like food to my soul. Yes it is.

Presenter13:12

You're getting emotional listening to that. A song for Mama Boys to Men. Well, your mum sounds incredible. I think we should hear about your father, too, Peter.

Speaker 213:13

You got

Speaker 213:14

Listening to that.

Oti Mabuse13:16

Uh

Speaker 213:16

Uh

Oti Mabuse13:16

Uh

Speaker 213:16

Yeah.

Oti Mabuse13:20

Teacher.

Presenter13:21

Uh So he trained

Oti Mabuse13:23

Trained as a lawyer and retired as a judge. So my competitiveness definitely comes from my dad's side. Yes, you've described him as driven like no one else. Like the fact that I can dance from ten to ten, that's because that's the man I grew up watching. My dad was working so hard. Being that we grew up in South Africa, the ANC used to have missions where they would send some students overseas to come and study in Oxford law so that they can actually fight the regime through law, through education. And some of them couldn't come overseas, they didn't have the papers, they were sent to universities within South Africa to learn law. And my dad was one of them.

Presenter13:30

Driven like no one else.

Oti Mabuse14:07

But I remember my grandma telling me the story and that they also couldn't afford the university where

Oti Mabuse14:14

Well, like the school was paid, but the life, you know, university life.

Presenter14:18

Food and lodgings and all that.

Oti Mabuse14:18

Objects and all that kind of stuff.

Presenter14:19

Uh

Oti Mabuse14:20

And my grandma, she opened a tavern. She used to sell alcohol so that she can make money to send my dad to school. Wow.

Oti Mabuse14:28

Like my whole family full of women who just do things. And he then set up a law firm for himself in an area called Hamanskral, where people couldn't afford to pay for law. So if you were wrongly arrested and again in those times a lot of black people were being arrested and didn't have any representation, you would then go to my dad and he was able to help. And sometimes not even like for free, really helping people in those communities.

Speaker 114:49

Yeah.

Oti Mabuse15:00

And giving them a chance to fight back. Let's have some more music, OT. It's your fourth choice.

Presenter15:06

Voice today. What have we got and why?

Oti Mabuse15:08

Dance with My Father by Ludo Vendros was my wedding song with my Dad. It was actually the first time I danced with my Dad, to be honest, and it reminds me of the good times and all the values he instils still in us today.

Oti Mabuse15:28

If I could get

Oti Mabuse15:31

Another chance.

Oti Mabuse15:34

I never won.

Oti Mabuse15:37

Another dance with him I'd play a song that would never, never end. How I'd love, love, love.

Oti Mabuse15:48

Uh

Oti Mabuse15:49

To dance with my father

Presenter15:50

Bye.

Oti Mabuse15:51

Uh

Presenter15:51

Okay

Presenter15:54

Luther Van Dross and Dance with My Father. Otimabusi, I want to take you back to your school days. You had this life outside as a little dancer. How much did your classmates know about it?

Oti Mabuse16:06

We used to wear school uniform and once every month on a Friday we used to pay to wear CVs. I don't know CVs day. And that was my opportunity to wear dance dresses to school. I was like, no, I'm not gonna wear jeans. I'm a special little girl. I wore a white ballroom dress with my sparkly silvery lattin shoes.

Oti Mabuse16:30

And I did my hair up. I looked like an absolute princess.

Speaker 116:30

I

Oti Mabuse16:34

I came in and I was like, Yes, guys, I am a professional dancer. This is like in year one. So, how old would you have been? I would have been six. Six? Yeah.

Presenter16:42

In what?

Oti Mabuse16:44

And my teacher was like, Oh, wow

Oti Mabuse16:48

Where's that from? And I'm like, I'm a dancer.

Oti Mabuse16:51

And they were like, Really? And I think they they didn't take me seriously. I I certainly don't think they did. And they were like, Oh, okay, will you du dance for us? So I was like, Yes Push the table back Everybody pushed their tails back and I danced in front of the class and I was like da and they were like oh wow, you really are A good dance am.

Presenter17:13

As you became more successful, you started travelling abroad to compete, and you were eleven when you went to your first international competition in Blackpool. It's a big deal in the dancing world. What did you make of it all when you got here?

Oti Mabuse17:26

It's a big, big, big deal. Well, leaving the country is a big deal and being able to compete overseas is a is a big deal. And it is one of the highlights competitions that you kind of want to do every year. It is it's massive. You have dancers from all over planning their lives around this one competition and from all ages as well. And I remember getting here and it was so windy and it was so gray and there was a beach and at that point I think the it was like the promenade, it's called the promenade, right? That the lights were on, but it was getting dark. It was so dark. It was like dark at three thirty in the afternoon. I was like, oh my gosh, the days were so short.

Speaker 118:09

The dangerous

Oti Mabuse18:10

Welcome to the North.

Speaker 118:11

Yeah, he

Oti Mabuse18:13

But you you spent most of your time in this ballroom, this beautiful, beautiful ballroom with a shiny brown floor made out of wood and the ceiling had paintings and arts and the balcony had sculptures on it and it had looked like nothing I'd ever seen in my life and it was the best best feeling because we were overseas we no one spoke the same language by the way like literally no one spoke the same language but somehow we were playing after we danced we were in Europe and then after you dance you you're not really sad if you don't win really because you're gonna go get a pick and mix afterwards you can only be so sad when a pick and mix is on the cards

Presenter18:54

But I'm taking mixes on the cards.

Oti Mabuse18:55

Let's face it. Yeah, I remember asking my mom for money because I wanted to go on the rides'cause that was fun as well as kids. And I remember her being like, I'm saving money so that we can have food later on. We used to have like half a burger and then save it and have half a burger later.

Oti Mabuse19:13

And then she would save money for us to be able to go and be on arcade and play with the other kids as well.

Presenter19:18

Oh, T, we've got to get to the music. It's uh your fifth choice.

Oti Mabuse19:21

Today, what have you gone for and why? I've gone for Tony Braxton and Break My Heart. I think this was the first song I realized, okay, there's this thing called love.

Oti Mabuse19:32

And I'm growing up, I also loved Tony Braxton so much.

Oti Mabuse19:36

Unbreak my heart, say you love me again.

Oti Mabuse19:45

Um

Oti Mabuse19:47

Heard your calls when you walked out the door and walked out of my life Uncribed these tears I cried so many nights

Oti Mabuse20:02

Unbreak my heart

Presenter20:09

Tony Braxton and Unbreak My Heart. You're singing along with every word, Otima Grisson. You look lost in thought. Where were you?

Oti Mabuse20:16

I was I was Tony in that moment.

Oti Mabuse20:20

living the drama best life that I can.

Presenter20:23

So, Oti Mabusi, when we watch you on Strictly and obviously in our conversation today, your tenacity, your appetite for hard work really comes across. What type of student were you? Were you as dedicated in the classroom as you were on the dance floor?

Oti Mabuse20:37

True

Presenter20:37

Nope.

Oti Mabuse20:37

I was really good at school, but I also had I had like a little rebel side to me where I would do things that made no sense, but in my head they did. So I didn't apply to go to university at all, actually. I was like, that's not what I want to do. I want to dance. And my mom and sister were like, Pimelo and my mom were like, no, you need to go to school because if this dancing thing doesn't work out, you need to have a backup. So she took my school report without telling me. She applied for university without telling me. And then Pimelo was like, there you go. You got an acceptance letter from the University of Technology. You're going to study cartography. And I was like, I don't want to. But then my mom was like, if you don't, literally, how are you going to make a living? You're not going to be living under my roof for very long. So I was like, okay, fine. Then I actually fell in love with engineering and the maths and science side of it and the idea of building something from scratch and problem solving and going to a field where it's just one tree and sand and then building a community there, building houses for people who can't afford a living. So that's what you were studying? Yeah. It's a a c kind of the equivalent of building council houses here in the UK, that kind of thing.

Presenter21:54

Yeah, that's true.

Presenter21:57

Yeah.

Oti Mabuse21:59

And they are all supported by solar panel energy.

Presenter22:03

Yeah.

Oti Mabuse22:03

It

Presenter22:03

Wasn't long before you qualified. You were close to it, but you did put down your trowels, take off your steel toecap boots and put on your dancing shoes again, deciding to pursue your career full time. What did your parents say?

Oti Mabuse22:07

Yeah.

Oti Mabuse22:16

They were like against it. Absolutely against it. They were like, This is the worst decision ever. I really, really wasn't happy because being an engineer full-time meant that I couldn't dance. It really didn't feel like that was something that I was ready to give up at that point to retire at 20 from dancing after I'd been dancing every single day since the age of four. All of a sudden, I give it up. And it just didn't sit right with my soul and it didn't sit right with my heart. And my mum kept saying, quit, quit. If you're not happy, find another job. One day I actually did. I was like, guys, I'm quitting. And mom was like, okay, we'll find another job. And I was like, no, I can't do this. I can't live my life.

Oti Mabuse23:00

unhappy. I'm only twenty one. This can't be it. This can't be the journey that I've chosen for myself. I want more out of life and I'm not getting it right now. And so my dad was like, What's the plan? And I was like, well, I've saved up some money.

Oti Mabuse23:15

And I'm moving and I'm going to d dance forever and I'm going to Germany.

Oti Mabuse23:21

And they were like, What?

Oti Mabuse23:24

I want to dance and I love dancing. And why Germany in particular?'Cause Muzzi was already living in Germany.

Speaker 223:30

Mm.

Presenter23:30

Yeah.

Oti Mabuse23:30

And so if ever I was not going to succeed or I was going to fail, I would always have my sister, I'd always have somebody to take care of me.

Presenter23:38

Time Small Music. It's your sixth choice today. What's it going to be?

Oti Mabuse23:42

I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman by Brittany. And I think this describes exactly how I was feeling in that moment where I knew that it was time for me to move on. I'm a girl.

Oti Mabuse23:54

But I'm not yet a woman and I'm still learning. And the song represents exactly that just that transition of career change, that fear that we feel just before we're about to make a big leap and not knowing whether it's the biggest mistake of our lives or it could be the best decision that we've ever taken.

Oti Mabuse24:20

Not getting more

Speaker 124:22

Uh

Speaker 124:26

All I need is time.

Speaker 124:30

A more but that is mine.

Oti Mabuse24:33

What I've been between.

Oti Mabuse24:38

I'm dying.

Presenter24:41

Britney Spears, I'm not a girl, not yet a woman. So Oti Mabusi, let's find out where life took you next to Germany. Yes. Where actually you met your husband Marius. You were looking for a dance partner. Tell me about your first impressions of him.

Oti Mabuse24:49

Where

Oti Mabuse24:56

Oh gosh.

Oti Mabuse24:58

So my first impressions of him went great really at first because so we had like planned a date where we would meet in the studio and obviously when you plan not a date date but like a day we were gonna meet, you dress up, right? So the day before that was the only day where I was left alone in the house to do nothing.

Oti Mabuse25:20

And so my goal was to spend the whole day in pyjamas with masks and watch movies and eat ice cream. And Marius decided that he would come the day before, when I looked atrocious.

Oti Mabuse25:36

But he was like, I actually love seeing you like this because then this is who you really are rather than who you were gonna show me. And there was just chemistry, you know, that chemistry. It's in the hand, it's in how it feels when he leads. Could I follow that lead? And besides us getting along together, we danced really well together. So the whole thing was just like it just came together very nicely. Do you still dance together now? Yes, we are going on tour now, actually. And he's gonna.

Presenter26:11

Join me on that talk.

Oti Mabuse26:13

Yeah.

Presenter26:13

Strictly had its nineteenth series last year, and I don't think there was a dry eye in the house during that final. It was so emotional. Oh my gosh. Especially when the actress Rose Ayling Ellis, who is deaf, lifted the winner's trophy with her partner Giovanni Panice. And of course, same-sex couples are now a regular part of the show, you know, right there in the final, John and Johannes last year.

Oti Mabuse26:20

Motion guys.

Presenter26:35

How important has the programme been for changing people's perceptions, do you think?

Oti Mabuse26:41

No show has done it so well, so classy, so effortless, so beautifully impactful. There's no show that's done it like that. It it's never about being the first. Sometimes they're not the first to do things, but they do it right and they do it beautifully. It makes it okay. I danced with Johnny Peacock for the first time and he was the first person with a d disability on Strictly. And Johnny inspires and still inspires so many kids who thought that they couldn't dance, they couldn't run. The same with Lauren, who had an arm amputation. The way Strictly does stuff is so beautiful and so Pure.

Presenter27:23

Yeah. Uti, we're recording this in early February. Now the lineup isn't finalized yet for this year strictly. Can we look forward to seeing you going for a third win at twenty twenty two?

Oti Mabuse27:33

2022.

Presenter27:38

Okay, well we look forward to hearing. Thank you.

Oti Mabuse27:39

Yeah.

Oti Mabuse27:41

See ya.

Presenter27:41

Uh For now let's

Oti Mabuse27:42

Let's see your seventh disc today. Otty, what's it gonna be? Right, this is my favorite song of all time.

Presenter27:44

What's it gonna be?

Oti Mabuse27:48

It is My Life by Bon Jovi and first of all it is Bon Jovi of course, so it's understandable, but this song represents taking control and living the best life ever that you can and embracing all the ups and living and pushing through all the downs.

Speaker 128:10

It's my

Speaker 128:11

I have now a mirror.

Speaker 128:16

Ain't gonna lift for anything

Oti Mabuse28:20

I still live

Speaker 128:28

All is like an open highway. By breaking shit, I feel it my way.

Oti Mabuse28:36

I just wanna live my life.

Presenter28:44

Bon Jovi and it's my life. OT, it's made me so happy that you've danced all the way through your desert island discs today. I mean, just that one. It's full air guitar there. Literally.

Oti Mabuse28:49

But

Oti Mabuse28:54

Literally, I should enter the air guitar competition because I feel like I could stand a chance to win.

Presenter28:59

It's a

Presenter29:01

Movie voices.

Oti Mabuse29:02

Yeah.

Presenter29:02

Yeah.

Oti Mabuse29:02

Will you dance on your island, do you think?

Oti Mabuse29:05

N no. I will be looking for food.

Presenter29:06

No middle.

Oti Mabuse29:10

I would probably sing.

Oti Mabuse29:11

And because nobody can hear me, I pretend that I'm Tony Braxton or Beyonce or Bon Jovi. Or see in the past couple of

Presenter29:17

Of years you've also been a judge on dancing and skating competitions. How has it been for you, swapping positions, you know, going from competing to judging?

Oti Mabuse29:28

I love it. I've been on both sides of the table and I know how hard people work. I know how hard people really want you to say something nice because it's not easy. And I always want to make sure that people know that I value and appreciate how hard they're working, whether it's celebrities or it's dancers, that I appreciate it because I understand that they're doing it for us and for people at home and for themselves.

Presenter29:56

There have been so many changes for you in the past ten years or so. Life has completely changed. Of course, on this program, the whole point is that we're going to cast you away from all that. Life's out of the spotlight. You're going to be on a quiet desert island, but you'll also be completely alone. You know, nobody to talk to, dance with.

Oti Mabuse29:58

Yeah.

Speaker 229:58

Mm.

Speaker 130:12

Do you know?

Presenter30:15

How will you get on, do you think, all by yourself and without friends? I would love it. Without an audience. I would absolutely love it.

Oti Mabuse30:20

That's not

Oti Mabuse30:22

Love it. Because I spent my time around so many people, entertaining people, dealing with people, my dog as well, my whole family. I celebrate when the house is empty and I'm all alone and I've got just music playing in the background and nothing to do. That's it, that's it. Or listening to a podcast. I love to be alone. I think I would survive really, really well. I'd actually love it too much that I might never ever come out.

Presenter30:50

You can have a cracking shelter as well with a civil engineering degree.

Oti Mabuse30:51

Well, I think

Oti Mabuse30:53

I could build it myself. I'm I'm also from South Africa. We build stuff with our hands anyway, so I know I would find some trees and I'll fan myself if it's too hot. I'd know how to purify sea water.

Oti Mabuse31:08

I would do really, really, really well.

Presenter31:10

I'm not worried about you at all, am I?

Oti Mabuse31:12

All over it. Before you go though,

Presenter31:14

But you've got one more disc today.

Oti Mabuse31:16

It's funny that you asked me about Beyond An Island because I think I will survive. And the next song is Survivor by Destiny's Child. And this represents me and my sisters. And this was the song we always used to sing, obviously because we were three girls and Destiny's Child was three. And it's about all the hard things that we've been through. The times when people told us that we would not survive. The times when people told us that we weren't good enough. The times when people doubted us and put us down.

Oti Mabuse31:52

And the best way to kind of retaliate or to show them is to be the best that you can be and succeed. And we were told a lot that there was a lot of things that we could never do and weren't allowed to do. And this song says, No matter how hard things are, how bad things are, and whatever people say, you will survive.

Speaker 132:16

Really?

Speaker 132:17

I'm gonna work harder, I'm gonna survive. I'm gonna make it, I'm gonna survive.

Oti Mabuse32:24

Uh

Speaker 132:24

Each ball f

Oti Mabuse32:24

Survivor, I'm a survivor. I'm not gonna give up, I'm not gonna stop. I'm gonna work harder, I'm a survivor, I'm gonna make it. I will survive, we won't survive. But I couldn't breathe without you, I'm in hell. You thought I couldn't sleep without you, perfect vision, you thought I

Presenter32:44

Destiny's Child and Survivor. So, Oti Mubusi, I'm going to send you away to the island now. I'm giving you the Bible and the complete works of Shakespeare, and you can take one other book with you. What will it be?

Oti Mabuse32:56

I would take Will Smith's new book. It's called Will, because I love Will Smith and I think he's amazing.

Presenter33:02

So, just for a bit of Will Smith time on your island? Just me and Will. Kind of.

Oti Mabuse33:06

Yeah.

Presenter33:06

You can also have a luxury item, what will that be?

Oti Mabuse33:08

I would take a photo of me and my grandma.

Oti Mabuse33:13

that I take with me everywhere. I love my grandma, she passed when I was nineteen, and she still holds a special place in my heart and I talk to her every now and then and I believe she's my guardian angel, so I take a photo of my Nana.

Oti Mabuse33:31

And finally

Presenter33:31

Ellie, which one track of the eight that you've shared with us today would you rush to save from the waves if you had to?

Oti Mabuse33:37

It has to be Bon Jovi. It's my life. No, I feel really pumped after listening to it. Every single time I hear it. It's it's just a great song.

Presenter33:48

Otima Busi, thank you very much for letting us hear your Desert Island Discs.

Oti Mabuse33:52

Thank you for having me. Thank you so much.

Presenter34:08

I hope you enjoyed my conversation with OT and I hope that she's happy making a shelter on her island and looking for food. If you want to hear more Desert Island Discs, there are more than 2,000 programmes to choose from in our archive, which include the dancers Dame Darcy Bussell and Dame Nanette de Valois. Search for them through BBC Sounds or our programme website. You'll also find one of OT's dancing partners, Bill Bailey's Desert Island Discs choices in there too. The studio manager for today's programme was Sarah Hockley and the producer was Sarah Taylor. Next time, my guest will be the musician Robert Plant. I do hope you'll join us then.

Oti Mabuse34:53

Alright, here we go OT, 5, 6, 7, 8. Dance. It has the power to connect and to entertain. And in a new series for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds, I explore the iconic dancers who have been doing just that.

Speaker 235:08

dance, it really I think saved my life.

Oti Mabuse35:11

Join me, Otima Wuse, as I delve into the lives of the innovators and the mall breakers who have changed dance forever.

Speaker 135:19

Gene Kelly was this working class guy that I just really connected with that.

Oti Mabuse35:23

Ultima Woosa's Dancing Legends on Radio 4 and PVC sounds.