Strictly's Oti Mabuse recounts 'traumatic' birth of daughter that left her battling sepsis and diabetes during 'really scary time' - and reveals inspirational truth behind her fitness journey

Oti Mabuse recounted the 'traumatic' birth of her daughter, that left her battling sepsis and diabetes , as she appeared on Loose Women on Wednesday.

The former Strictly Come Dancing professional, 34, joined panellists Judi Love , Charlene White , Coleen Nolan , and Brenda Edwards to discuss the health woes she faced after welcoming her first child prematurely last year.

Oti and her husband Marius Lepure, 41, became parents in November 2023 after their newborn was born prematurely with an infection and spent six weeks in intensive care.

She is pre-diabetic and was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 28 weeks, before also experiencing complications after the birth when she contracted sepsis.

Gestational diabetes is when you have high blood sugar during pregnancy, whereas pre-diabetes is when blood sugar levels above the normal range, but not high enough to be diagnosed.

Charlene told the Dancing On Ice judge: 'What I love about Oti is on your socials, you you have been so honest and open that it's not about weight loss since having the baby, it's about feeling fit and healthy and strong.

'You've been so open about that. Why was it important for you that people understood that it's not about a weight loss thing? Which a lot of women feel like they're under pressure to do.'

Oti, who is reportedly lined up for the upcoming series of I'm A Celeb, explained: 'When I fell pregnant I got gestational diabetes and we have diabetes in the family but I didn't really know what happens after you give birth.

'Does it go away? Do you have to keep working? Years ago I would see pictures of models who would have a baby and within three weeks they're back and walking the runway.

'I'm in the bathroom, I'm crying, I probably haven't washed in like three days. How am I going to snap back?'

'It's so difficult and my sister and I talk about this all the time. It's really about being healthy.'

She revealed: 'My reason for getting back into fitness was that I found out I was pre-diabetic actually.'

Shocked, Charlene quipped: 'Really?' to which Oti responded: 'Yeah I am still pre-diabetic and it's about trying to get back to a point where I feel strong, I can handle my food, my sugar levels are right.'

Discussing her daughter's birth, which came eight weeks early, the TV personality recalled walking to the shops with her husband when her waters broke out of nowhere.

'I was like "something is happening" and he thought I was joking,' she told the panel, 'he thought I was pranking him.'

Oti gave birth naturally and said she was 'singing Chicago the whole time,' with the problems arising afterwards.

She explained: 'Once I gave birth to her it became more traumatic, I had sepsis and I didn't know. I had all these things, I had the diabetes, I had pelvic pain so turning and getting up and walking was very painful.

'Then I found out that I had sepsis. It was one thing over the other. We spent 10 minutes together and she was taken away with my husband and the doctors.

'She was in the incubator and that was the first time we actually saw her. She was covered up and she had all these machines and wires and everything covering her face....

'This premature world only comes to light when you're going through it.... It was a really, really scary time.'

Oti has always been candid about her birthing struggles and last month admitted she feels 'very lucky' that her baby daughter survived.

The former Strictly star, who was born in South Africa, and Marius, who was born in Romania, feel very fortunate that her daughter lived because babies raised in their native countries don't help children who are born very prematurely.

Opening up on her tough road into motherhood, Oti revealed she holds a lot of 'guilt' that her baby arrived early.

Speaking to Paul C Brunson in his We Need To Talk podcast , she said: 'There were moments where she wouldn't eat, feeding her was really tough. In South Africa and Romania, they don't help children who are born as young as she was, so we were very, very lucky.'

Marius said: 'I knew there was nothing better we can do. I saw babies where if it would have been that week in Romania they would not have saved the baby. We are lucky.'

The dancer admitted she was at 'her lowest' just after she gave birth because of the state her baby daughter was in.

Oti said: 'The baby was sick. She couldn't breathe on her own, she couldn't eat on her own. She was really small. We couldn't hold her. That was incredibly, incredibly tough. I cried for an hour.'

Elsewhere on Wednesday's Loose Women, Oti was of course quizzed on whether she would be entering the jungle.

Keeping her cards close to her chest, she simply smirked, quipping: 'I love I'm a Celeb, since I came to the country it's been one of the shows I've watched and been a huge fan of.'

Coleen Rooney and Maura Higgins will also reportedly be heading Down Under for the new series later this month, alongside longtime soap star Alan Halsall and legendary sportsman Barry McGuigan.

Rounding out the lineup are Loose Women star Jane Moore, DJ Dean McCullough, Tulisa, radio presenter Melvin Odoom, Reverend Richard Coles and podcast presenter GK Barry.

A source told The Sun : 'Oti is a brilliant name for I'm A Celebrity, she's hugely popular and well liked by the ITV audience so bosses are over the moon she could be a campmate this year.

'She's very much seen as being part of the ITV family of stars and is always guaranteed to be great fun.'

MailOnline has contacted ITV and Oti's representative for comment.