Strictly star hints at shock return to show after dramatically quitting last year

A STRICTLY Come Dancing professional has teased they could be making a shock return to the show are quitting last year.

Oti Mabuse was seen joining the rest of the dancers and cast for the upcoming series at rehearsals on Thursday afternoon in a video shared by her former co-star Neil Jones.

Instagram

BBC

Oti quit the show last year to pursue other projects[/caption]

Ballroom dancer Oti, 32, dramatically quit BBC One show Strictly last year to appear as a judge on ITV show Dancing on Ice.

She also filled up her busy TV schedule with appearances on Celebrity Gogglebox and The Masked Dancer after leaving the competition.

However, now it has been teased that she could be set to make a shock return, as she was seen rehearsing with her Strictly co-stars.

Dancer Neil, 40, filmed round a rehearsal space on Thursday, showing Oti learning some moves alongside the other professionals.

“Look who’s back,” he teased on the Instagram stories post, giving fans a sneak peek at the behind-the-scenes training.

Elsewhere yesterday, Oti was seen posing for a selfie with another dancer – Graziano Di Prima, and his new wife Giada.

The trio could be seen smiling wide for the camera as they appeared together in the same dance rehearsal space hours after Neil.

“Look who’s back!” Graziano, 28, also captioned his post, showing the trio sitting on the floor and getting some rest.

Oti, who stepped back from the show last year, won in both 2019 and 2020 alongside Kevin Fletcher and Bill Bailey.

After taking some time out to pursue other projects, she squashed rumours earlier this year she could return to the hit BBC competition.

Speaking to You magazine, Oti said: “When I came to Britain I said to myself, ’My dream is to win Strictly.′ Now I have, and it was an amazing seven years, but I’ve done what I needed to do.”

While Oti may not be returning, it has been confirmed that her sister Motsi will once again sit on the judging panel this September.

With the competition kicking off in a matter of weeks – as the celebrity line-up for the 20th series has already been revealed.

Among the famous faces are Helen Skelton, Matt Goss, Will Mellor and Kym Marsh – as well as Kiss FM DJ Tyler West.

Anton Du Beke will join the judges this series, alongside Motsi, Craig Revel Horwood and Shirley Ballas.

Instagram