She might have just landed her own ITV chat show but Oti Mabuse admits she hates British small talk.
And quite a lot of Brits would agree, in fairness.
The South African star, 32, has been baffled by having to “chit-chat” with people before launching into the straightforward nitty-gritty of her conversations.
“That small talk, I had to get used to,” she laughs.
Oti cringes at polite conversations starting with niceties such as “How are you?” or “Is that a dog...” and grumbles: “The weather is a massive, massive topic.
“In South Africa we say, ‘Time is money, guys, we’ve got to go.’”
The former Strictly Come Dancing pro, right, now hosts Oti Mabuse’s Breakfast Show on ITV, where she chats to other celebs, as well as being a judge on Dancing on Ice and the Masked Dancer – so her change in career direction means she has endured a lot more babbling.
Speaking while working with HSBC on its Unforeign Exchange project for tips on moving abroad, she says: “I’m not dancing as much, so I do a lot more meetings. It’s taught me to get to know the person and how they are before you get to the hard bit. I had to learn it in a couple of weeks.”
Enough wittering now, Oti – remember time is money.
