Steph McGovern's selfless act for Oti Mabuse after Strictly star's tough birth

06 February 2024 , 17:50

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Steph McGovern's selfless act for Oti Mabuse after Strictly star's tough birth

Oti Mabuse has opened up about the "traumatic" birth of her daughter and revealed how TV star Steph McGovern helped her in the weeks following her difficult labour.

Speaking on the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast with Giovanna Fletcher, Oti shared that they kept the birth a secret for nine weeks to enjoy some private family time. The Strictly Come Dancing star described the emotional journey of dealing with her daughter's critical condition, which required a six-week hospital stay.

She said: "I think we didn't hold her for about a week, because she was still in an incubator with wires, with jaundice, so, she was under blue light. And she had infections because it turned out that I had sepsis. And it's something that was missed or was not seen or was not tested for."

Oti also expressed her gratitude towards her friend Steph McGovern, who kindly offered her flat for Oti and her husband, Marius, to stay in during this challenging period. She told Giovanna: "My really, really good friend Steph McGovern had given us her flat to live in, she gave up her home and said 'you and Marius can use this place for as long as you want'."

Oti Mabuse's daughter was in hospital for six weeks after being born (Oti Mabuse /Instagram)

Steph McGovern gave up her home for the Strictly star following the scary experience

Oti explained. Her appreciation for Steph only increased after their team-up on Steph's Packed Lunch where Oti referred to her as "a huge light in my life" and "the kindest hearted woman you'll ever meet in show business." Musing on starting her own family, Oti admitted that her dance career initially made her hesitate about taking the motherhood route. Amid societal pressures, Oti chose to pursue her love for dancing before thinking about becoming a mum.

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She also disclosed her funny encounter of telling her sister Motsi about her pregnancy while at the King's birthday celebration. She happily remembers: "Motsi I told at the King's birthday. We were at the King's birthday, and Motsi and I can drink so, all of a sudden, I was having tea. She was like, 'what?', I was like, 'no, no, I'm just having tea'." She then shared the exciting news privately to her sister later, away from the BBC and ITV crowd.

The Strictly champ Oti Mabuse was back teaching dance just three weeks after having her baby. She said on Instagram : "First day back teaching at the school, it was so nice to see everyone, really really nice. All the teachers, all the students." And she added: "Guys when I tell you, my body has changed, of course my body has changed like I pushed a head, two lungs, two eyes, two legs, two arms out, yes... but everything is soft."

Zoe Delaney