Strictly Come Dancing professional Oti Mabuse has opened up on receiving racially abusive messages as well as having trolls cruelly fat-shaming her over the course of her seven years on the BBC competition.

The stunning South African-German dancer, 31, swiftly became one of the most popular pros on the show, going on to become the first to win the Glitterball trophy two years in a row.

Despite audiences believing Oti was a fantastic addition to the reality TV series, the star has kept quiet about all the nasty comments and vitriol that’s landed in her inbox.

The new Dancing On Ice judge, who has been married to Marius Lepure for nearly 10 years, has now opened up on some of the struggles she’s faced behind the scenes, which comes after the star refused to be pushed by Phillip Schofield to confirm one way or the other if she's returning this year.

In a new interview with Radio Times magazine, Oti shared: “I’ve faced some backlash while performing on the show. I've never really spoken about it.”

The star went on to explain that she has fought to accept the abuse because the positives working on the show have outweighed the negatives.

“I’ve tried for so long to think about it this way…” she continued.

“I work on a show that ten million people love; if ten or 100 people aren't nice to me, that is not representative of everyone else's view.

“It's taken years for me to get that into my head.

“To get tweeted or receive a message in my inbox being racially abusive, or fat-shaming me, is horrible. But it's written by a person who can't even face themselves in the mirror,” the dancer added.

Since joining ITV’s skating competition this year, Oti has received an overwhelming amount of praise for her fair and positive comments and being such a likeable addition to the panel.

She replaced former judge John Barrowman, and joined Ashley Banjo and Olympic legends Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean to judge the latest batch of celebrities on the ice.

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And the Strictly star is in her element watching performances, as she also revealed to the publication that “dance has always been there” due to her South African heritage.

She explained that her culture has led to dance being a way of expressing themselves as well as being an art.

Despite that, the star has hinted that 2021 could have been her last year as a pro on Strictly, as she’s making big strides to grow her career in other areas.

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