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Oti Mabuse: I knew my husband was the one from our first dance

Oti Mabuse knew her husband was "the one" after they first danced together.

The 30-year-old professional dancer – who tied the knot with Marius Iepure in 2012 – was first introduced to the 38-year-old dancer when her sister Motsi organised for her to trial a potential dance partner.

But after meeting Marcus, she knew she had found the only partner she would ever need.

Speaking to Red magazine’s October issue – of which she is the cover star – she said: "When I said I wanted to become a professional dancer, Motsi suggested a few boys I could trial with as dance partners. Marius was the first and only try-out I had. I cancelled all the others. I was like, ‘This is the one.’ "

The ‘Strictly’ star and her older sister, ‘Strictly’ judge Motsi, grew up in South Africa, but decided to follow their dreams of becoming professional dancers, and Oti moved to Germany in the hope of making it big.

She explained: "I studied civil engineering at university but, when I qualified, I found myself having to travel a lot for work, going to different sites in different parts of the country, which meant I had to give up dancing. And that just felt very weird. It didn’t make sense.

"One day, I got home and said: ‘Mum, it’s just not working out for me.’ She was like, ‘OK, then do what you need to do. But if you want it, you have to learn how to get it on your own.’ So I just said, ‘Cool, OK, I’m going back to dancing and I’m moving to another continent.’ "

Read the full interview with Oti Mabuse in the October issue of Red, on sale the 2nd of September. It is available in all supermarkets and online at MagsDirect.