Former Strictly Come Dancing star Oti Mabuse is back on BBC for Christmas and admits she and her husband are not great cooks

I’m A Celebrity star Oti Mabuse has only just jetted back from Australia but she won’t escape the nightmare of a jungle rice diet. The former Strictly dancer has revealed that at home neither she nor her husband Marius likes cooking.

And when he does have a go in the kitchen, he only serves up only one signature dish. She said: “He will make you rice with ketchup for dinner. That’s it! We have so many cook books. None are used.” Oti – who struggled in the TV Aussie camp having to eat rice and beans for breakfast, lunch and dinner some days – admits she is not a great chef either. She admits: “I would say it is more functional cooking. I haven’t got to a stage yet where I’m going ‘I’m enjoying this’.”

Oti, 34, and her husband are flying to South Africa for Christmas with their 13 month old daughter for a big family gathering. She tells Mary Berry in her festive special Mary Makes Christmas: “My daughter will be having first Christmas ever in South Africa. It will be about 32 degrees. We are not dressed in blankets and hats.”

Oti Mabuse and Mary Berry have fun on new BBC show ( 
Image:
BBC/Sidney Street Productions/ © Neil Genower)
But when Mary asks if she will attempt to cook a turkey dinner for the whole family, she gasps: “Please don’t cancel me Dame Mary Berry! We usually book somewhere because no one wants to cook over Christmas. But a lot of families do this in South Africa. It’s outside and it’s a picnic and the sun will be shining.”

In the show Mary decides to give Oti a lesson in how to make some home-made Christmas treats including snowball meringues and spicy chutney. The dance professional, who is now a judge on Dancing On Ice, also reckons Mary should take a turn on Strictly next year.

She thinks the baker, who is now 89 years old, is still very “light on her feet” when she moves around the kitchen and even sees her manage to touch her toes. And she says: “I think you will be good.” But Mary protests: “You should see me on the dance floor I am not a good mover. No. Don’t talk about it.”

In the BBC show, Mary reveals how she puts her ”heart and soul” into making home-made presents to give to her friends and family at Christmas because she reckons it makes things more special. And viewers will see her bake mini Christmas cakes, jars of apricots in brandy and bags of ginger flapjacks to hand out as gifts. She says: “I love Christmas. It never stops being magical for me and there is nothing more special than a home-made gift. Beautiful presents to say thank you to all the important people in your life.

“Every year I make gifts and some of my most treasured possessions are ones I get in return. On Christmas Day, the most important thing for me is to have my family around me. All the generations – and I sit back and listen.” However, despite being such a talented baker, Mary reveals she does not have to slave in the kitchen on her own on December 25.

She adds: “We all share it. We all do part of the meal so it’s not too much for anybody.”