Oti Mabuse ‘delighted' as she receives Freedom of the City of London
She has had a successful dancing career, winning the South African Latin American championships eight times and is one of the most successful professionals to have appeared on BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, having won the show two years in a row.
To be following in the footsteps of legends of the arts and entertainment industry, including Sir Matthew Bourne, Dame Judi Dench, Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Giles Terera, and Strictly's very own Len Goodman, feels quite remarkable
Mabuse, who attended a ceremony at Guildhall with family and friends on Wednesday, said: 'I am delighted to have received the Freedom of the City of London for my dance and charitable work, and I am very grateful to Chris Hayward and Keith Bottomley for nominating me.
'To be following in the footsteps of legends of the arts and entertainment industry, including Sir Matthew Bourne, Dame Judi Dench, Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Giles Terera, and Strictly's very own Len Goodman, feels quite remarkable.'
Mr Hayward is the policy chairman of the City of London Corporation, while Mr Bottomley is the sheriff-elect of the City of London.
Former Strictly head judge Goodman died in 2023 aged 78.
Mabuse won Strictly in 2019 and 2020 and has also appeared on The Greatest Dancer as a dance captain and as a judge on ITV's Dancing on Ice.
Mr Hayward said: 'Having won a clutch of dance titles during her career and a place in our hearts, mostly, down to her appearances on the hugely popular 'Strictly', I am sure that Oti's Freedom will be welcomed warmly by her many admirers.
Oti Mabuse poses for photos in the Great Hall, after receiving the Freedom of the City of London at the Guildhall, London (Yui Mok/PA)
'Away from the dance world, her work with Unicef to raise awareness of the support needed by premature babies and their mothers, is highly commendable, and I am very happy to join my colleague, Keith Bottomley, in nominating Oti for the Freedom.'
Mr Bottomley said: 'As well as impressing us on the dance floor, Oti Mabuse's charitable work with women and young people in communities across London, and overseas with Unicef, deserves our admiration and respect.
'It has been a pleasure to nominate Oti to be admitted into the Freedom, and I am sure that she will have very happy memories of today for many years to come.'
The tradition of the freedom of the city is believed to date back to 1237.
Past recipients include comedian, actor and writer Sir Lenny Henry and Lady Mary Peters, who won an Olympic gold medal in the athletics pentathlon in 1972, as well as Sir Chris Hoy and his wife, Lady Sarra Hoy.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
a minute ago
- BBC News
Sarah Lancashire says Happy Valley performance 'born of fear'
Bafta-winning actress Sarah Lancashire has said her award-winning performance in gritty TV drama Happy Valley was "born out of fear".Lancashire, 60, who rose to fame as barmaid Raquel Wolstenhulme in Coronation Street, won two leading actress Baftas for playing no-nonsense Sergeant Catherine Cawood in the BBC decades-long "brilliant and intangible" working relationship with writer Sally Wainwright influenced her role, but she said fear was key to her the role at Windsor Castle on Tuesday, after being formally made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE), Lancashire said: "That was just born out of fear, abject fear, of feeling quite off-piste. "Literally it was a leap of faith, jumping off the cliff at midnight in the dark."But knowing that somebody has the confidence in you and the belief in you - Wainwright is deeply persuasive as an individual, which I absolutely, really admire, I'm very grateful, always."Lancashire starred in Coronation Street from 1991 until 1996, appearing in more than 260 and Wainwright first met when they were "cutting their teeth" on the soap pair later collaborated on the BBC comedy-drama Last Tango In Halifax, for which Lancashire won her first Bafta in 2014 for her supporting worked together again on Happy Valley, which ran from 2014 to what made playing Sgt Cawood so terrifying, Lancashire said: "The setting of it, being asked to play something which I had no knowledge of at all - absolutely no knowledge."And knowing that the level of research that was available to me was going to be quite limited in the time available."But in actual fact - as Wainwright always said - it wasn't a procedural drama, it was not a police drama, it was a family." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
Daily Mail
31 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Weather presenter Carol Kirkwood says she hopes to retire in two years to travel Europe with her husband
She has long been a familiar face on TV channels, bringing news of the weather to homes across the country. However, presenter Carol Kirkwood has revealed she hopes to retire in as little as two years so she can drive off into the sunset with her policeman husband. The 63-year-old has been a fixture at the BBC for 27 years but has said she is planning a change of scene for her and partner Steve Randall, 49, when she turns 65. Discussing her retirement hopes, Ms Kirkwood, who is also a published author, said: 'We fell in love with Majorca, which is where we went so I could research my fifth novel, Meet Me at Sunset, about a woman running away from a shattered love affair. 'Steve and I plan to escape and travel for some time when we retire, perhaps in a year or two. 'We'll travel in a camper van or get in the car, cross over to France and then just drive.' Ms Kirkwood, from Morar, Lochaber, was married to property developer Jimmy Kirkwood but the pair split in 2008 after 18 years of marriage, with the divorce finalised in 2012. She recently made a cheeky comment when asked about her second marriage, telling one newspaper: 'Love is lovelier the second time around. No disrespect to my first husband, but this is better.' Ms Kirkwood, who was on Strictly Come Dancing in 2015, began her career at the BBC as a secretary before cross training with the Met Office and joining BBC News in 1998. She appears regularly across all of BBC Weather's output on both radio and TV and is the main weather presenter on BBC Breakfast. The TV star, who is 14 years older than her husband, also spoke about the age gap in her relationship, stating it makes no difference to her. She told Saga Magazine: 'Steve is 50 this year. Other people's opinions about an age gap don't matter - I don't feel he is younger than me.' She also said she believes that meeting him was fate. She said: 'We were at a function neither of us wanted to go to. It was a Sliding Doors moment - if I hadn't gone, we would never have met.' Discussing her relationship in another interview, Ms Kirkwood had said: 'Love is lovelier the second time around. 'The wedding was the most perfect day. Storm Gerrit was raging outside and we didn't even notice. 'It was about us getting married rather than having a big, fancy wedding. We had no guests and wrote our own vows. 'When you are older, you know more what you want.'
Daily Mail
41 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
John Torode's most excruciating Masterchef moments revealed - as he's sacked from BBC flagship show for using 'extremely offensive racist term'
Australian-born chef John Torode has been at the helm of MasterChef alongside Gregg Wallace for 20 years – and the duo have shared some iconic moments. The 59-year-old, who was born in Sydney in 1965, was a resident chef on This Morning before he achieved widespread fame with Wallace on the BBC show. But his contract on MasterChef will not be renewed after he was the subject of an allegation of using racist language that was upheld as part of a review carried out by law firm Lewis Silkin into the alleged behaviour of his co-presenter Wallace. The report, commissioned by production company Banijay UK, found 45 out of 83 allegations against Wallace were substantiated, alongside two standalone claims against other people, including one for using 'extremely offensive' racist language. Torode then confirmed he was the subject of the allegation but had 'no recollection of the incident' and was 'shocked and saddened' by the allegation. Uncensored swearing (Masterchef, 2022) Masterchef viewers were left shocked during an episode in April 2022 when Torode swore at contestant Pookie Tredell - uncensored - before the 9pm watershed. Torode blasted the Birmingham-based retired beauty salon owner for dropping teammates 'in the s***' when he accused them of not communicating. The host was concerned that Pookie and her teammates were not talking to each other properly despite having to present their food at the same time to be served. 'We've got three minutes and a half left,' Pookie shouted before approaching Torode with her dish – but she was quickly forced to go back to her work station. Torode told her: 'Pookie, you need to talk to them. Go back and tell them you put their plate on the pass and tell them. 'Because you've just done what's commonly known as dropped them in the s***.' Torode explained that although Pookie presented her dish, he could not serve the table because the dishes from her teammates were not ready. Unexpected scotch bonnet chillis (Masterchef, 2017) Torode got the shock of his life during an episode in 2017 when he ate a dish by a contestant without knowing it contained scotch bonnet chillis. As he eyes began to water, he asked amateur chef Lynell: 'You've got scotch bonnet chillis in there?' She replied: 'Yes, I like pepper.' Torode, whose voice was starting to crack, then said: 'You like pepper alright.' Lynell apologised with a laugh, telling him: 'Sorry, I should have warned you.' In another clip from the same series, contestant Dr Saliha Mahmood Ahmed – who later won – was shown to be taking her time during a challenge. Torode told the doctor: 'You're very calm under pressure, aren't you?' She replied: 'I have to be.' Wallace then joked: 'Lots of patience' - to which Torode rolled his eyes. Sexual joke to Cat Deeley (This Morning, 2024) Torode came under fire for making a sexual joke about a sausage to Cat Deeley live on This Morning last October. The comment was ill-timed because it came after Wallace denied claims that he made inappropriate sexual comments to a female staffer. Torode was plating up a dish of toad in the hole, telling host Deeley:: 'I never thought I'd say to Cat Deeley, 'Here's a little sausage for you darling'.'' Deeley tapped him on the back and replied: 'Oh I like it, thank you,' before she turned to make a face at the camera. But viewers took to social media to point out the unfortunate timing of Torode's comment in the light of the scandal affecting his co-presenter. 'Experimental' innuendo (Masterchef, 2012) Torode appeared to get an unexpected insight into a contestant's sexual life during an episode of Masterchef back in 2012. The contestant told him: 'I'm actually cooking this because it tastes nice, it's really nice.' Torode replied: 'Would you consider yourself a conservative cook or an experimental cook?' She then said: 'I'm experimental at home with my husband' – before beginning to laugh. Torode told her: 'I'm not asking what you do at home' – but she interjected: 'No, no, no, cooking wise!', and they both laughed. Torode told her: 'I'm not asking what you do at home' and they laughed about the innuendo Disagreeing with Wallace (Celebrity MasterChef, 2009) Tensions boiled over between Torode and Wallace on an episode of Celebrity MasterChef in 2009 when they had to choose a quarter-finalist from Claire Richards, Sean Wilson and Kaye Adams. Torode said: 'Claire is just getting better and better and better.' But Wallace replied: 'Oh come on John look, her cheesecake was lovely but that scallop dish [by Wilson] was absolutely superb, top drawer cooking. I just really, really want to see more of his dishes.' Torode then told him: 'OK, we don't agree. There has to be a decision.' And Wallace said: 'It's one of those nights isn't it, it's one of those nights.' They eventually chose Richards to go through. 'Still love each other' (This Morning, 2018) During an appearance on This Morning, Wallace gave an awkward smirk when it was suggested that the duo 'still love each other' after 14 years of working together. Wallace and Torode were talking during the ITV programme in March 2018 about how they react to tasting food they do not like while filming Masterchef. Wallace said: 'I don't ever want to humiliate somebody by spitting their food out. What I will say is 'look, I find you sticking that chocolate bar up the back end of a duck quite challenging'. Torode then interjected: 'For the duck.' Wallace continued: 'And it's not something I may want to taste again.' Host Ruth Langsford, alongside Eamonn Holmes, then said: 'But the thing is, it seems to me after 14 years that you still love it, and you still love each other.' Wallace then pulled a smirk, gestured towards Torode and then clapped his hands – as Torode said: 'Yeah, love it, absolutely love it.' Over the years there have been rumours that the two men did not get along off-screen, although Wallace has previously said they are friendly.
