Oti Mabuse Fires Back at AJ Pritchard as Their Bitter Strictly Feud Heats Up During DWTS Drama

OTI Mabuse has taken another pop at AJ Pritchard in a TikTok Q&A.

alum Oti hasn’t shied away from dishing out her thoughts about AJ’s current stint on Dancing With The Stars: The Next Pro, as he competes to become a permanent fixture on the American ballroom show.

While applying a mask, Oti was asked to share her latest thoughts about AJ, who has “rubbed cast up wrong way” with comments about the Strictly brand – despite it being the show that made him famous before he quit in 2019.

“I’m going to talk about two different people – but this is the same person: I’m going to talk about AJ the person and AJ the professional,” Oti began.

“AJ the professional, what he has to deliver on the dance floor cannot be taken away – it is a skill, it’s a talent; it is a power of his – it is a tool.

“As someone who’s hiring someone who’s going to teach your celebrities how to dance and get the best out of them and produce incredible numbers for you week on week, that’s who you’re going to get.

“The person… you have to be in the circle to experience it, because there is a level where he’s very professional.

“He keeps it cute, he keeps it motivated – he’s very much into mental wellness and mental stamina, which we really love.

“There’s also a deeper level that is quite strong.

“Through the show, genuinely, what I’m seeing is… I think he is really scared.

“Whatever he’s doing and he’s saying is coming from a place of being scared and wanting to be good enough, which essentially means that maybe he doesn’t feel like he’s good enough.

“So he pushes and he’s right to push… but it’s way he’s pushing, the methods, the communication, the words that he’s choosing to push.”

Oti added: “I’ve never been a part of , but culturally… the work culture in America with the audience and the pros and the celeb is a completely different work culture that we have here.

“But if you want to survive and crossover from pond to pond, it doesn’t matter which direction… you’re going to have to learn the work culture of the place and how and what makes the people tick.

“And so I don’t think what worked in the UK will work in America… maybe he might be palatable for another audience.”

Oti concluded by saying: “It’s gonna be tough for him to come back from this because this was his second chance… it’s gonna be tough for a lot of people to now warm to him.

“If he does win, it’s gonna be tough… but would he be the first controversial pro that we’ve ever had? No.”

South African-born Oti, 35, appeared as a professional dancer on the show from 2015 to 2021, while AJ was previously a Strictly pro from 2016 to 2019.