Oti Mabuse said she’s been ‘saying for years’ that a rival star has been watching Katya Jones’ routines
Katya Jones is at the heart of a Strictly Come Dancing plagiarism row.
Former Strictly star Oti Mabuse has joined those hitting out at a rival Dancing With The Stars professional and accused them of copying Katya Jones’ choreography. Oti posted a comment on a TikTok that pointed out similarities between choreography used by this year’s DWTS winner Witney Carson and Oti’s Strictly colleague, Katya.
In a video posted to TikTok on Thursday (11 December), social media user @scdxediits paired clips of dances performed this year by Katya and Emmerdale’s Lewis Cope alongside clips of Witney and her partner Robert Irwin where the dance moves were similar. Over the top, the creator wrote: “How Witney feels after copying Katya’s choreography once again”.
In the comments, former Strictly pro Oti Mabuse agreed with the poster and suggested that Witney had been copying Katya for a while now. She responded: “Been saying this for years…”
Katya’s two routines that the original poster referenced was her paso doble to The Plaza of Execution and her couple’s choice to Creep by Radiohead. The paso’s final move saw Katya lie on the floor, whilst Lewis leapt in the air and landed in a crouched position with his feet either side of his partner’s waist. The same move was then seen performed by Witney and Robert in their paso doble to Icky Thump by the White Stripes.
Similarly, Katya and Lewis’ couple’s choice involved a move where the Emmerdale star held on to Katya’s head and slowly lowered her towards the ground whilst she remained in a stiff plank. The same move was executed by Witney and Robert during their quickstep to Jet’s Are You Gonna Be My Girl in the final.
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Another fan argued Katya may have copied Witney. They said: “Do they realise DWTS started a few weeks before Strictly which means that Katya and Lewis copied Robert and Witney?” However, both dances by Katya and Lewis were performed before each of Witney and Robert’s. The paso was danced on 11 October and the couple’s choice on 1 November, whilst Witney’s paso was danced on 4 November and the quickstep on 25 November.
But a second fan also pointed out that Katya did not invent these moves, as Alan Bersten executed the paso leap last year as well. “Katya did not create either of those moves, and technically, Katya copied Alan who did it last year on DWTS,” they said over a picture of Alan dancing a paso.
Another agreed: “As a dancer this is crazy. Those moves existed long before Katya, pretty sure Alan did the first one last year too.” A third said: “Katya didn’t create those moves tho. If you watch loads of ballroom dances you’ll see those moves in them.”
Witney and Robert won this series of Dancing With The Stars, after wildlife conservationist Robert became a firm fan favourite, not just with DWTS audiences but with those who did not previously watch the show as well. Clips of Robert dancing trended on TikTok, as did many of his famous animal-loving family.
Meanwhile, Katya and Lewis, who have consistently been top scorers on Strictly, were eliminated from the show in the quarter final. During musical’s week, Lewis failed to impress judges or fans with his salsa to The Dance At The Gym from West Side Story. He ended up in the dance off with Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin, who had scored a perfect 40 for their charleston to Sit Down, You’re Rocking The Boat from Guys And Dolls.
The Mirror reached out to Oti’s representatives for comment.
Source: Mirror
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