Professional dancer Oti Mabuse has revealed the real reason she left popular BBC show Strictly Come Dancing.

The ballroom dancer left fans across the country shocked when she announced in February that she would be quitting the programme.

The Strictly star first joined the show all the way back in 2015 and was crowned winner twice in 2019 and 2020 alongside celebrities Kevin Fletcher and Bill Bailey.

Speaking on the All Changes podcast, Oti Mabuse revealed the struggles she faced while on the BBC show as well as how grateful she was for her husband.

Oti Mabuse reveals why she left Strictly

The Strictly star said: “Luckily my husband again has been an amazing person who has seen the dark days, the days where I’m in the shower crying with my clothes on because it’s so hard and it’s so overwhelming."

Adding: “He’s seen me not eat, he’s seen me overeat, he’s seen me struggle with not being able to get the best out of someone. He’s seen me having to deal with interesting personalities.”

“So, he’s the person that’s seen the behind the scenes at the point where I’d got to where I was like, ‘I think I’m finished.’ He was like, ‘Yeah I think there’s this new thing that’s got a fire in your stomach. When you’re hosting or talking to people you’re a completely different person.’”

The star hinted at how her leaving the show was a massive shock to fans, saying: "When you come from there, you are with that group, then when you decide you’re going to leave it’s like: ‘What? What do you mean?’

"I was met with a lot of: ‘Why would you leave? You’re happy, you’re at the top of your professional game, you won the show?”