Oti Mabuse has confessed she was approached multiple times to do I'm A Celebrity.
The Strictly Come Dancing icon, 34, is heading into the jungle this week to start her reality TV adventure down under with her fellow campmates. However, I'm A Celeb bosses have had their eyes on Oti Mabuse for a long time, she revealed.
Talking about her journey to getting on the show, it was revealed that she had turned going on the show down some five times before relenting. When asked why she finally decided to go this time round, she revealed she heard some secret advice that changed her mind.
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Opening up, Dancing on Ice judge Oti said: "I was asked already, like, maybe six years they've been asking me. But I've always said that I will always do the show, because it's just always seemed like a fun show."
She added: "Everyone that I've spoken to, every single person that I've spoken to, has nothing horrible to say. They just say, this is a once in a lifetime experience."
Oti has been an avid fan of the Aussie-based ITV reality show, often making appearances in some shape or form in recent years. While she was initially hesitant to take part, words of wisdom from campmates gone by helped to sway her view as she realised how unique of an experience the jungle can be.
"I know I'll never get to do this again," she admitted. "I'll never be in this place with these type of people, ever, ever again.
"I'm just looking forward to just getting to know everybody and experiencing everything that comes with it," she quipped. "I feel like it's so far away from home, it's so far away from what I do."
Oti confessed that she was excited to show another side of her, saying she was "so used to being seen just being the expert in a certain field" that people will be able to see her for who she is. Oti is not the first Strictly star to have taken part in I'm A Celebrity, as other professionals including Camilla Dallerup and Ola Jordan have also competed.
It comes as the first days of the ITV reality show get underway down under. The groups have already been making their way into camp through a daring skydive to test their courage and fears of heights, all before getting stuck in with the Bushtucker trials.
The final line-up for this year's series was revealed by bosses earlier this week, including Loose Women star Jane Moore and WAG royalty Coleen Rooney, who landed the highest appearance fee in the history of the show, bagging herself a cool £1.5million for the pleasure. It has not been confirmed as to whether a second set of campmates will join the series later in the show.
I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! starts on Sunday, November 17, at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
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