I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! viewers were moved to tears during an intimate conversation between Oti Mabuse and Reverend Richard Coles. The ex-Strictly star shared the poignant story about her daughter’s early arrival.
With her newborn in an incubator and unable to embrace her, Oti recounted how she used the power of her voice to bond with her child, saying: “They find comfort in your voice For two months, every single day we’d sing church music.”
Richard, who had previously danced with Oti on the show in 2017, opened up about his own emotional experience: “I remember going once to baptise a little boy, a premature boy, he was born very premature, he was only just alive.”
Overwhelmed by the memory, the Reverend paused, visibly moved. Oti immediately went to console him with a hug, reports . Richard gathered himself: “I just remember he was this tiny little pulse of life.
“David [his then partner] got a pipette of water, and we blessed it, and we baptised him, and he survived, and now he’s a healthy young footballer, which is great! But I just felt so… it was such a precious thing.”
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Ot and Richard confide in each other (Image: James Gourley/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Oti, who welcomed her little girl in November 2023 with her professional dancer husband, Marius Lepure, struggled to hold back tears as she recounted her harrowing time.
She said: “My daughter was really, really tiny when she was born. It’s hell. It’s hell to be in the hospital, to hear those sounds, to not see your baby’s eyes for a week, it’s hell to constantly look for advice from the doctors.”
The esteemed dancer revealed the most difficult part, confessing that “every night, you need to leave them, you need to leave your baby in someone else’s hands.”
Oti and Richard leave fans in tears over emotional chat (Image: James Gourley/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Oti eagerly told Richard that she looked forward to him meeting her daughter, saying: “Maybe you can say a prayer over her. I would really love that.”
In a touching exchange, Richard disclosed he had already said a prayer, leaving audiences teary-eyed. On X, previously known as Twitter, fans expressed their emotions.
One person penned: “Oti and Rev Richard pulling heartstrings tonight, such a nice conversation straight from the heart #ImACeleb,” another viewer commented: “Oti and Rev Rich are actually going to make me sob #ImACeleb.”
Oti opens up about the ‘hell’ she faced after birth of her daughter (Image: James Gourley/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
A third person was reduced to tears after they’d tuned in for the discussion. They captioned on X: “IM CRYING OVER OTI AND RICHARD I CANNOT #ImACeleb.”
During the deep conversation, Richard opened up about his profound loss, his partner David passed away just before Christmas in 2019 at 43 due to liver disease stemming from alcohol addiction. “I miss him… He’s just left a massive hole in my life and I’m living my life around that loss,” he confided to Oti on the show.
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! airs most nights on ITV from 9pm.