Oti Mabuse has likened her career as a TV presenter to "starting a new life".
Oti Mabuse
The 31-year-old dancer has tried her hand at presenting on 'Steph’s Packed Lunch' on Channel 4, and she's hailed Steph McGovern for mentoring her through the experience.
She said: "I’m starting to present and I’m starting a new life. The person who inspires me the most is Steph McGovern.
"Sometimes when you come into the industry people do feel threatened. They do feel, ‘Oh you’re trying to take my spot.’ She didn’t. She saw something in me.
"Every time I do her show she goes, ‘We’re going to stay back and you’re going to do my bits and we’re going to practice.’ So she mentors me.
"It’s her show, her time. The whole crew does that, they wait.
"That for me is a hero, she’s an inspiration. When somebody comes into 'Strictly', I want to be that person who goes, ‘Let me show you the ropes.’
"She’s just showed me what it looks like when women help each other and are not scared or insecure."
By contrast, Oti had to learn to "survive" on her own when she first joined the cast of 'Strictly Come Dancing'.
Oti - who has been partnered with the likes of Bill Bailey and Kelvin Fletcher on the BBC show - told the 'People, Just People' podcast: "I didn’t know anybody. And no one was really like, ‘We’re going to take you in.’ Everybody was like, ‘Look, you have to survive. We’re all here because everyone has a story. You’ve got to just make your own journey.’ Nobody took me under their wing and made me their child.
"And so that’s what I had to learn. I got my first celeb and I was out [to rehearse] early. I’m very competitive."
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