AS Strictly favourite Oti Mabuse prepares to make the move from dance pro to judge in BBC1’s new Saturday night show The Greatest Dancer, she has one simple tip for co-star Cheryl Tweedy: “Sign up for Strictly.”

The South African-born dance star reckons that going for the Glitterball trophy would get Cheryl smiling again after her career hit the skids and her love life with singer Liam Payne imploded.

Oti, 28, told The Sun: “I would love to see her try. I think if she did Strictly, people would love her and see another side that they haven’t seen yet. She would be brilliant.”

Oti, who partnered cricketer Graeme Swann in this year’s Strictly, will join Cheryl and US actor and dancer Matthew Morrison on the judging panel of The Greatest Dancer.

The show is the BBC’s latest attempt to fill the gaping hole in the schedules left by Strictly, after several talent contest flops including Pitch Battle and Let It Shine.

Britain’s Got Talent judge Alesha Dixon switches roles to be host, alongside Diversity star Jordan Banjo in the line-up, which has been put together by Simon Cowell in his first collaboration with the Beeb.

Dancers compete for a £50,000 prize and the opportunity to perform as a guest on Strictly. Already, as is usual with such talent contests, The Greatest Dancer has been plagued by reports of a rift between the judges after The Sun revealed Cheryl’s “difficult” behaviour on set.

But Oti, in her first interview since landing her new gig, said: “We’re generally getting to know each other and there’s something about her that I love.

“I feel like once she lets you in she kind of takes care of you like a sister.”

Bosses had clearly intended Cheryl to be the star booking but anyone who has seen the first episode, to be screened on January 5, will tell you that all eyes are on one person only — Oti.

She runs the rule over the contestants, who audition behind a mirrored screen so they can win over the studio audience who vote using touch pads.

If they get more than three quarters of the audience on side, doors open to reveal the judges, or “dance captains”, and they get through to the next round.

It’s a format tweak which producers feel will make the show different from the numerous TV dance shows aired over the past decade on various channels.

Oti’s rise to fame has been as swift as it is dramatic. She studied for four years to become a civil engineer in her home city of Pretoria before moving to Germany to follow a career in dance.

She lived there with her sister Motsi, a judge on the German version of Strictly, and appeared on the show herself for two series.

Four years ago she moved to London after being scouted for Strictly — and now she is being groomed as the Beeb’s next big star.

But Oti, bouncing with excitement around the hotel suite where we meet, admitted she almost turned down The Greatest Dancer pilot because of a manic touring schedule.

She told me: “I was on tour with (Strictly dancer) Ian Waite at the time. My agent called me and said, ‘There’s this pilot for a dance show and they want you to be a judge.’

“I just rolled my eyes — ‘Oh here we go again, more stuff I have to do that I don’t want to do’ — and he was like, ‘Babe, this is huge. It’s with Matthew Morrison and Cheryl’.

“And I was like ‘The real ones?’ And he was like ‘Yeah’. I was so tired, I couldn’t be bothered, like I couldn’t even feel anything at that point.”

Luckily Oti accepted the pilot and at the start of last year she was officially announced as a judge for the show’s first series.

She might be a newbie to judging but when it comes to dance experience the eight times South African Latin American champion is leaps and bounds ahead of her co-stars.

Like any new telly personality, she is worried about how the British public will take to her. She said: “I was really scared about this because I can’t hide behind my choreography.

“It makes me so nervous because you never know how you come across to people, and I’ve never been in a position where what you say and how you talk to people, somebody else can look at you and not like you.

“When we started I thought, ‘Oh God, I’m going to come across as crazy and loud and hyperactive,’ and then I did — and I actually liked it.

“I think the way they shot it felt fresh. It felt young, it was warm, and I felt proud.”

Although her TV options look wide open, Oti insists she has no plans to leave Strictly.

She said: “I always say, ‘Never bite the hand that feeds you.’ Strictly is the reason why I’m sitting here.

I’ve left home and moved my life and said, ‘Well, Strictly is home and Strictly will always remain home.”

Previous talent show formats have relied on a “panto villain” character such as Simon Cowell, Strictly’s Craig Revel Horwood and the original Mr Nasty, Nigel Lythgoe.

 In the final a winner is crowned, receiving £50,000 and getting the opportunity to dance on Strictly.
But Oti believes her show doesn’t need one.

She said: “I think the thing that the producers got right with this panel is that they chose people that are positive, and I think all three of us feel that dance in this show is in the forefront.

“It’s not about celebrities, it’s not about a story, it’s literally just dancers, and we feel that they get underappreciated so there’s no time for Mr Nasty.”

The Greatest Dancer will go head to head with established talent contest The Voice — once a BBC show, now on ITV — and Oti is making no predictions about which will win the ratings war.

She said: “Listen, I think if we get any ratings, that would be a blessing. Let’s just get the show on first and we’ll see how it goes.”