Strictly Come Dancing favourite Oti Mabuse has been trying to keep it as vague as possible when it comes her future on the show, but found herself put on the spot on Tuesday morning.
During an interview on This Morning, Oti spoke to Phillip Schofield and Rochelle Humes about all of the projects she has coming up in 2022.
As Phil listed them all – including her arrival on the Dancing On Ice panel to her upcoming tour, BBC podcast, new ITV dating show and the new production of The Cher Show – he cheekily noted that he couldn’t “see personally how you’re going to fit it in”.
“Oh Phil, you’re getting excited,” Oti said, when the subject of Strictly was raised.
“I will fit everything in,” she added. “I have a great agent who plans everything really well!”
Towards the end of the interview, Phil was far more direct, asking explicitly: “Are you going back to Strictly?”
“I don’t know yet!” the professional dancer responded with a grin. “There will be an announcement made officially by Strictly – but not just about me, by the way, because it seems like that. It’s about all the pros.
“There is a process and a protocol to follow.”
She then joked to Phil that she could “see it in your eyes” that he was being deliberately mischievous with his question.
Oti has long been rumoured to be bidding farewell to the Strictly ballroom after seven series with the show, during which time she’s become the only professional dancer to ever win two consecutive years, thanks to her performances with soap star Kelvin Fletcher and comic Bill Bailey.
After she was first announced as a judge on ITV rival Dancing On Ice, Oti said: “I think for me, as a person in entertainment, I really want to learn and I want to grow and I want a long career, especially in this country, like I moved all the way from Africa!
“So I have to make something of myself. So I’m really trying to learn and do as much as I can, for as long as I can, while I can.”
Last year saw Oti spreading her wings even further, judging the inaugural series of The Masked Dancer and choreographing a number on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, where she also joined the panel for one episode.
This Morning airs every weekday from 10am on ITV.