Oti Mabuse has "done absolutely nothing to prepare" for ‘The Greatest Dancer’.
The 29-year-old star – whose act Ellie won the first series of the BBC show in February last year – will be back as a dance captain for the upcoming second run, and she wants to go into it without any preconceptions.
She said: "This series I’ve done absolutely nothing to prepare.
"I think for me it’s really important that I get out of my own limits, that I challenge myself and I excel without those boundaries that I usually am in.
"I’m from the Latin and ballroom world, it’s really prim and proper and I think I’m going to shake it up a little bit this series!"
The ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ pro – who won the Glitterball Trophy last year alongside celebrity partner Kelvin Fletcher – insisted that despite her success as a ‘Greatest Dancer’ team captain in 2019, she isn’t feeling any "pressure" to replicate her triumph in 2020.
She added: "There is absolutely no pressure to win.
"It’s not really about me; I try to make it as much as possible about the acts and this series I’m going into it like, ‘I don’t know what I want, whoever I feel a connection to is the person that I’m looking forward to taking this journey with.’
"It might not be somebody who needs to grow as much but just might be an act that I feel deserves to be seen and deserves to have a platform."
Oti wants to bring something fresh and exciting this year, rather than filling her final three with acts similar to her 2019 trio.
She explained: "I’m very excited about choosing my final three. I think the pressure comes from seeing acts and not repeating the same so I want to not see an Ellie in my team or I can’t do another KLA or I prefer not to do another Globe Girls.
"Not because I don’t think they’re great but I think it’s time to bring a little bit of diversity to the show, to bring something new and even though it might be similar styles, it’ll just be coming from me, and how I can change that
scene or that style.
"So it’s really exciting because it’s going to be a challenge but I’m up for it."
‘The Greatest Dancer’ returns to BBC One on Saturday, January 4 at 7pm.
Oti Mabuse: I’ve done absolutely no preparation for The Greatest Dancer
