Oti Mabuse says border control told white husband to ‘show proof’ he is baby’s father

Former Strictly Come Dancing star Oti Mabuse has opened up about the moment when her husband was asked to provide proof that he is the father of their daughter while going through border control.

The two-time Strictly winner and Dancing on Ice judge, 34, revealed that her husband Marius Iepure faced questions from border control staff while travelling with their child, who was born in November 2023.

“He was asked at border control, ‘Show me proof that this is your child,’” Mabuse told Hits Radio presenter and former Strictly contestant Fleur East during an interview marking Black History Month.

“He had never been asked for proof before,” Mabuse added, noting that the incident was “a real learning moment” for Iepure, a professional dancer who hails from Romania and has appeared on Let’s Dance, the German equivalent of Strictly.

“First questions [were] ‘where’s the Mum, where is she from, your baby looks very, very different,’” the star recalled, before adding that the official touched her daughter’s hair and claimed “her hair is so different”.

“For the first time [Iepure] felt protective over the fact that now he has to explain himself, which he didn’t have to before,” she said.

“And he also has to see what a microaggression is, because before he was like ‘it’s just a question’ and I went, ‘but it’s not, is it?’”

Mabuse and Iepure met in Germany in 2012, when they were paired together as professional dancers. They got married in Denmark two years later, shortly before Mabuse joined the cast of Strictly.

In August 2023, she revealed that the couple were expecting their first child, describing the pregnancy as “the best news we could have asked for”.

Mabuse has described the birth of her daughter, whose name has not been revealed publicly, as a “traumatic” one. The baby was “very premature” and spent six weeks in a neonatal intensive care unit. Mabuse was also diagnosed with sepsis following the birth.

In a recent interview with relationship coach Paul Carrick Brunson on his podcast We Need to Talk, the couple opened up about how Strictly had impacted their marriage.

“I didn’t communicate with my husband,” she said. “[Winning] was just this one goal that I wanted to achieve so, so, so, so so much.”

“I’m in that business,” Iepure added. “I knew what it takes to be a successful dancer and choreographer in a show like that, so it was nothing new. But obviously it’s tough and it hurts and it’s not the easiest time but you see the end of the tunnel.”