Oti Mabuse has revealed the real reason for her sudden exit from Strictly Come Dancing.
The talented dancer was coming off of a double win after taking first place with Emmerdale's Kelvin Fletcher and comedian Bill Bailey.
After seven years on the competition, her departure shocked fans, but she is now opening up about the “dark days”.
Read more: Strictly Come Dancing viewers convinced they already know who is going to win
Oti explained that the pressure of the show and working with her celebrity partners was too much for her.
She credited her husband Marius Lepure for helping her through the difficult time.
“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,” she said on the All Change podcast.
Oti continued: “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'.”
Swipe across to see inside Oti Mabuse's seriously stylish London home
She knew that leaving the programme would come as a shock to viewers as it is such a well-loved programme.
“I came from the biggest show on television. Every single human being on this planet, in this country, loves Strictly.
“People are obsessed. 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 professional game, you won the show?'”
Since leaving Strictly, Oti has become a judge on Dancing On Ice, she hosted her own dating show Romeo & Duet and presents her own Saturday morning show called Oti Mabuse's Breakfast Show.
She shared: “I was really lucky at that point that just after winning my second title [on Strictly], ITV held their arms open and they were like 'hey, come in!' So when I was jumping, there was somewhere to land.
“Even though I left, there was this whole world, a new family, that had opened doors for me and that's luck and I have to be honest about that, I have to be grateful for that.”
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