Strictly professional dancer Oti Mabuse, 36, has been brutally honest regarding her opinion of AJ Pritchard and his appearance on Dancing With The Stars: The Next Pro15:01, 31 Aug 2026Updated 15:01, 31 Aug 2026Strictly legend Oti Mabuse has taken yet another swipe at former co-star AJ Pritchard.‌The professional dancer, 36, has been brutally honest regarding her opinion of AJ and his appearance on Dancing With The Stars: The Next Pro. The spin-off reality show features twelve dancers competing against one another in a bid to join the flagship show. Strictly judge Shirley Ballas has joined her son Mark, who is a professional on the US dancing show, to judge the competition.‌AJ has reached the final alongside Selena Hamilton and Adele Zaikmank, though Oti clearly hasn't been too impressed with AJ - particularly after "rubbing cast up the wrong way" with remarks about Strictly.‌Applying a skincare mask, she answered a question from a fan about her "thoughts on the AJ drama"."I’m going to talk about two different people – but this is the same person: I’m going to talk about AJ the person and AJ the professional,” Oti said. "AJ the professional, what he has to deliver on the dance floor cannot be taken away – it is a skill, it’s a talent; it is a power of his – it is a tool."As someone who’s hiring someone who’s going to teach your celebrities how to dance and get the best out of them and produce incredible numbers for you week on week, that’s who you’re going to get.‌"“The person… you have to be in the circle to experience it, because there is a level where he’s very professional. He keeps it cute, he keeps it motivated – he’s very much into mental wellness and mental stamina, which we really love.‌"There’s also a deeper level that is quite strong. Through the show, genuinely, what I’m seeing is… I think he is really scared."Whatever he’s doing and he’s saying is coming from a place of being scared and wanting to be good enough, which essentially means that maybe he doesn’t feel like he’s good enough."So he pushes and he’s right to push… but it’s way he’s pushing, the methods, the communication, the words that he’s choosing to push."‌She continued: "I’ve never been a part of Dancing With The Stars, but culturally… the work culture in America with the audience and the pros and the celeb is a completely different work culture that we have here.‌“But if you want to survive and crossover from pond to pond, it doesn’t matter which direction… you’re going to have to learn the work culture of the place and how and what makes the people tick.“And so I don’t think what worked in the UK will work in America… maybe he might be palatable for another audience.”She went on to admit that it would be "tough" for him to "come back from this" as it was his "last chance". "It’s gonna be tough for a lot of people to now warm to him. If he does win, it’s gonna be tough… but would he be the first controversial pro that we’ve ever had? No.”‌It comes after Oti admitted on TikTok back in July that AJ was "so controversial", remarking it was "so funny"."I think AJ has said a lot of things about Strictly as a brand and – I don’t even know how to word this – he might have rubbed a lot of people the wrong way with his personality," she said. "We can admit that as well.‌"Him coming out in public and saying that he wants British dancers on a British show because Strictly is Britain,” she pointed at herself. “The most popular pros on Strictly have not been British – I’m talking Aljaz [Škorjanec], I’m talking Giovanni [Pernice], I’m talking Janette [Manrara]. Even now Vito [Coppola], Nikita [Kuzmin], Alexis [Warr], Katya [Jones]."Even back in the day, we’re going Vincent Simone, Ola Jordan, Kristina Rihanoff, Natalie Lowe. Those are the legends and they’re not British so you can imagine that for a lot of people that it would have rubbed them the wrong way.”Oti continued: "He’s gone off and left the biggest brand and just been really horrible about it. He left and he decided, maybe now I’ve matured and grown and I want another opportunity. Maybe his personality may be a little more palatable there."Article continues belowLike this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .