Oti Mabuse warns former Strictly pro: ‘It’s going to be tough to come back from this’

Oti Mabuse has taken another sassy swipe at former Strictly Come Dancing co-star AJ Pritchard as he continues to divide the internet.

The dancer, 31, who was part of Strictly from 2016 to 2019, is currently appearing on Dancing With The Stars: The Next Pro, competing to join the roster of the American show.

It’s helmed by Strictly judge Shirley Ballas and her pro dancer son, Mark Ballas, with AJ making the final alongside Adele Zaikman and Selena Hamilton.

However, it’s safe to say he’s riled many people up, including the cast, with remarks about the Strictly brand and his behaviour on the programme.

AJ, 31, recently said to The Sun that he would ‘love to see more British dancers’ on Strictly, adding: ‘We’re in the UK, I’m proud to be British, and there are so many fantastic boys and girls out there who would love the opportunity.’

He then became embroiled in a feud with Rylee Arnold, 21, having been paired with her for a challenge and criticised for his ‘intense’ training techniques.

This led to AJ’s fiancée, Zara Zoffany, weighing in, arguing that ‘constant critiques’ were only needed because things weren’t right, while Shirley backed Rylee, slamming those who don’t ‘respect’ her without explicitly naming anyone.

Now, two-time Glitter Ball champ Oti, 36, has had her say, having previously branded AJ ‘controversial’.

Taking to TikTok, the South African dancer, 36, was asked for her thoughts on the drama, beginning in a video: ‘AJ the professional is skilled. AJ, the professional, what he has to deliver on the dance floor cannot be taken away; it cannot be denied. It’s a talent. It is a power of his.

‘If you want someone to teach a celebrity how to dance and get the best out of them and produce incredible numbers week on week, that’s who you’re going to get.’

She then began discussing AJ as a person, telling her followers that he can be quite ‘strong-spoken’ and you have to be ‘in the room to experience it’.

Oti mused that what she’s seeing of AJ on TV now is him being ‘really scared’.

‘Whatever he’s saying is coming from a place of being scared and wanting to be good enough, so he pushes, and he is right to push, but it’s the way he pushes, the method, the communication, the words that he’s choosing.’

Oti admitted she has ‘never been a fan’ of DWTS, but the ‘work culture’ on the US version is ‘completely different’ to the UK.

‘If you want to survive and cross over from pond to pond, you’re going to have to learn the work culture of the place and what makes the people tick.’

She went on to say the pro he’s been beefing with, Rylee, is ‘extremely loved’ and popular, jumping to her defence for being compared to her dancer sister and ‘underestimated’ by people.

‘Even if he (AJ) gets the job, I don’t know who wins, I cannot wait for the final, you can tell that there’s already a lot of tension.

‘All in all, I’m choosing to separate the skill from the man, but… I told you guys. I told you.’

‘It’s gonna be tough for him to come back from this,’ Oti then said of AJ’s image, because DWTS was already ‘his second chance’.

‘It’s gonna be tough for a lot of people to now warm to him if he does win. But will he be the first controversial pro that we’ve ever had? No. Would he be the first outspoken pro who says things that make people gasp? No.

‘Can the man do the job? Can he produce? Can he teach? Can he perform? Those are things we cannot take away from him.

‘So, no matter what the feeling is – and people are making their feelings very clear – I think, at the end of the day, he has a skill set, and he’s worked his whole life for it. But whether people choose to warm to him or not, that is a personal choice.’

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In her first response to AJ a few weeks ago, Oti shut down his suggestion that Strictly would be better with more ‘British dancers’, stating that ‘the most popular pros on Strictly have not been British’ and naming the likes of Aljaž Škorjanec, Janette Manrara, Katya Jones, and Nikita Kuzmin.

‘So you can imagine that for a lot of people, that would have rubbed a lot of people the wrong way,’ she said of his claims. ‘And also, Strictly is different. Out of all the brands, all the brands. No, we are global. Our professionals are global because that global mixture is what makes us beautiful and is what makes us special.’

Oti added that, since leaving the massive Strictly brand, he’s ‘just been really horrible about it’, which she understands to be ‘rubbing a lot of people the wrong way’.

While AJ hasn’t responded to Oti publicly, nor has he addressed the backlash to him on the show, he was filmed breaking down to fellow competitor Nina Mayster as she comforted him.

He opened up about ‘stress’ and ‘exhaustion’, adding: ‘Especially when you do a routine and just want it to be perfect. For years and years I’ve wanted this, and I don’t want to go home.’

AJ told cameras: ‘I put myself under maybe too much pressure. Because I want to show how much this means to me.’

He also delayed his wedding to compete on Next Pro, declaring that he’s ‘sacrificed so much’ after getting engaged last July.

‘It’s overwhelming when I actually think about the lengths I’ve gone to. To not achieve what I’ve given up everything for would just be so disappointing.’

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