Strictly legend returns to BBC show in exciting new role and warns 'it won't be it easy'

A legend is set to make a major comeback two years after they left the beloved dance competition.

On Thursday (October 17), bosses revealed that former professional dancer will be returning to the famous ballroom this weekend.

But this time the 34-year-old won't be performing on the main stage. Instead she has taken on the role as a choreographer for the long-running show.

Ahead of the upcoming show, producers shared a behind-the-scenes clip from the rehearsal studios as the professional dancers practiced their upcoming group number.

The new mum shared her excitement as she talked through the vision behind her sizzling Paso Doble - and she warned fans that she's "not taking it easy" on her former co-stars.

She explained: "The story is quite intense, so in this cup, Nancy is the queen, everybody is in awe of her. When Dianne comes in, she's a new type of queen.

"When they see each other, we play with the idea of are they going to dance it off? I'm definitely not taking it easy on them, the dance is high energy.

"When you watch those girls kicking their legs, stretching, shaping their bodies and the boys and their passionate sliding on their knees. It is going to be full out," she teased.

They captioned the clip: "Oti Mabuse is back and bringing the heat to the Ballroom choreographing this week's Pro Dance [fire emoji] #Strictly."

In the clip, the dancers could be seen performing with dramatic red fans as well as ribbons as they twirled across the dancefloor. It didn't take long before fans flooded to the comments to celebrate Oti's return to the reality show.

One user penned: "Ooo yes Oti! Always love your choreography [two star-eyes emojis]" as another agreed: "[three praise emojis, three applause emojis] I love Oti [four heart-eyes emojis] she's my fave dancer ever [heart emoji]."

A third chimed in with: "It's great to see Oti Mabuse (Motsi Mabuse's sister) again and back! [three heart emojis, three applause emojis] Anways I'm looking forward to this group dance celebrating us women!! [three heart emojis, three fire emojis, three applause emojis]."

Meanwhile, others pleaded with BBC bosses for the star to return to the show as a pro dancer once more. One begged: "I wish Oti was back dancing as a pro. I love her so much" as another echoed: "Oti! [heart emoji] We miss you dancing @otimabuse."

Since the dancer left the dance competition back in 2022, she landed a judging role on rival show Dancing on Ice alongside Diversity dancer Ashley Banjo and Olympic skating champs Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean.

Strictly Come Dancing airs on Saturdays from 6.20pm on BBC One or catch up on BBC iPlayer.