Oti Mabuse has surprised her mum with a super sweet reunion this Christmas.
The Strictly Come Dancing star hasn't seen her mum and the rest of her family in South Africa for three years due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The professional dancer, 33, who was recently announced as the new judge on Dancing On Ice, posted a video of herself waiting to board a flight at Heathrow to finally be reunited with her loved ones.
"I'm on my way home," she said in a video shared with her 636,000 Instagram followers.
"I haven't been home in four years. I haven't seen my mum in three-four years, haven't seen my dad in four. She doesn't know I'm coming home."
The video then cut into clips of her journey before being reunited with her parents and family friends at home.
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She captioned the video: "FINALLY AFTER YEARS I WAS ABLE TO GO HOME TO SOUTH AFRICA."
"Decided to surprise my family and not tell them I'm coming home just to see their expressions, mom was speechless (touched me all to see if I was real, dad couldn't stop smiling and my god mother cried her eyes off)
"To say I was emotional is an absolute understatement I have been waiting 3-4 years to hold my moms, dad, sister, nieces and nephews in my arms and just spend time with them NOT through a screen [heart emoji].
"I rarely share family events but this felt really special to me and I know so many others are in my position and were buzzing when RSA was taken off of the red list.
"Covid has really taught me how much family is above all and should never be taken for granted [heart emoji]. Please excuse the coming photo dumps that will be flying your way."
Despite concerns she wouldn't be able to see her family for another year due to South Africa being on the red list, she’ll be back on UK soil very soon.
Kicking off 2022 in style, viewers will be able to watch Oti back in the judging chair as she joins Jayne Torvill, Christopher Dean and Ashley Banjo on the Dancing on Ice panel.
"As a professional dancer I have always had so much respect for the skating professionals on Dancing On Ice," she wrote as she announced the news.
"It is an exceptional skill that is also so beautiful to watch. I’m feeling really enthusiastic about joining the panel alongside the legendary Torvill and Dean and Ashley Banjo.
"I can’t wait to see the celebrities thrive as they learn how to ice-skate and to champion the professional skaters as they create incredible choreography."
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She added: “Having been on both sides of the table, I know a little bit about how they’ll be feeling. It’s more than an honour and I already can’t wait to join the family."
Her decision to join the ITV show has added fuel to the rumours she’ll be leaving Strictly for good, with celebrity PR and publicist, Harry Rutter, telling Metro: “Moves like this don’t often happen, but it’s more than likely that a very tempting offer was put on the table by ITV bosses.
“Oti has been doing Strictly Come Dancing since 2015 and has built up a substantial audience both on TV and online, this is something ITV would have taken into account.”
The new series of Dancing on Ice begins on Sunday 9 January.
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