Strictly Come Dancing's Oti Mabuse shares behind-the-scenes training footage of Kelvin Fletcher’s rumba

The pair wowed the judges on Saturday night
The Weekender

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Oti Mabuse gave Strictly Come Dancing fans an insight into her rehearsals with dance partner Kelvin Fletcher after the pair impressed the judges with their rumba.

All four panellists were lost for words after the professional dancer, 29, and the former Emmerdale star, 35, performed to Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers during Saturday’s live show.

The pair received 36 points for their routine but were pipped to first place by Karim Zeroual and Amy Dowden, who were awarded 38 points, for the first time having topped the leaderboard for the past three weeks.

Posting on her Instagram Story, Mabuse shared a clip of her and Fletcher practising a spin, captioning it with a gif that read “Do what scares you.”

Rehearsals: Fletcher and Mabuse fine-tuning their routine
Instagram @otimabuse

She also posted a similar clip in black and white, which showed the pair spinning in each other’s arms and a third video of them fine-tuning a pose which saw them balancing on tip-toes.

Mabuse later unveiled another video snapshot which appeared to be from an earlier stage in their rumba rehearsals, with the dancer clapping in time to the beat to help her partner.

“Monday!!!! Miserable mysteries learning new dance Monday’s [sic]... let’s see how this week turns out @kelvin_fletcher #strictly,” she captioned the post.

Mabuse and Fletcher’s routine left all four of the judges feeling flustered on Saturday evening, with Shirley Ballas quipping: “You just sent my temperature through the roof! I’m going all red.”

Motsi Mabuse, the dancer’s older sister, joked that she had felt uncomfortable during the rumba, telling them: “I was like, ‘Hold on Kelvin, hold on, that’s my sister, stop it!”

Even Craig Revel Horwood struggled to find fault with the dance, instead describing it as “filth.”

Mabuse, Fletcher and the other 11 remaining couples will spend the week rehearsing a new routine for Saturday’s live show, after Dev Griffin and Dianne Buswell became the third pair to leave the competition on Sunday.

Strictly Come Dancing continues at 6.40pm on October 19 on BBC One.

Strictly Come Dancing 2019

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