Amanda Abbington calls Strictly experience 'inappropriate, mean and nasty' in tell-all interview
She first raised concerns of 'bullying' on day three of her Strictly journey
Actress Amanda Abbington took part in the 2023 series of Strictly Come Dancing, paired with Italian dancer Giovanni Pernice, but the 50-year-old made the decision to quit the show after just five weeks.
Although not many details were given about her reason for leaving at the time, in the following months it emerged that Amanda had made a formal complaint about her professional dance partner's behaviour in the training room, something which has blown up even further in recent weeks, after Giovanni and Graziano Di Prima were both removed from the 2024 line-up.
Whilst the BBC continue to carry out internal investigations about the allegations, Amanda has now spoken more in depth about her treatment on the show, during an appearance on Lorraine on Thursday 25th July.
Speaking to host Christine Lampard, Amanda admitted she first raised concerns about the apparent behaviour she was experiencing on day three, revealing she has text messages to producers expressing her concerns of a toxic environment.
Calling it 'inappropriate', 'mean', 'nasty' and 'bullying', Amanda said she felt she had to speak up saying: “I am doing press for the play so, I think you know, talking about Strictly had to come up. I couldn't stay silent on it because it would have been really weird. I don't want people to be frightened of speaking out if they're being bullied or if they feel they're in a difficult situation, or if they feel that they're not being heard and so, I was doing publicity for the play and people asked me about Strictly… There are things I can't talk about, obviously, and I'm honouring the complaint, I'm not speaking out of turn, I'm not saying anything specific that happened.
“But, I do feel I have the right to say it was a toxic environment that I was in while I was rehearsing, because it was, you know. I know what happened in that room. It would be remiss of me if I was to just say, ‘It's fine, I don’t want to talk about it’ but it's important that women and men - because men get bullied as well - it's important that women feel they are in a safe space where they can stand up and go, ‘This is inappropriate behaviour and it needs to be recognised’, and I don't want women to feel like they can't speak out.”
On her experience, Amanda added: “It was inappropriate, it was mean, it was nasty, it was bullying. I put up with it for five weeks, you know, five, six weeks. It started very early on and when it started to happen, I would shut down because I would recognise those red flags and so, I would shut down, and then it would be difficult to get in. So, that would just be a self fulfilling prophecy.”
Shockingly, Amanda also opened up about the online abuse she has received from trolls since speaking out, admitting she's received death threats, as well as awful threats towards her children.
She told Christine: “I knew that raising and voicing my concerns, probably would mark me as public enemy number one, I realised that, but I didn't expect the onslaught that I got - and the consistent, persistent amount of death threats and rape threats, not only to me, but to my children and members of my family - Jonathan included.
“I've got screenshot after screenshot after screenshot, after screenshot… In the end, I couldn’t screenshot them all because it was starting to really affect my mental health because I was just thinking, ‘Everybody hates me and everybody wants me dead, and everybody wants me to die of cancer’..."
She continued: “‘Hope you die of cancer’ - quite a few of those - and quite a few, ‘I'm sitting here laughing at the thought that your daughter gets raped right in front of you’ because of what you did to Giovanni. I'm so sorry if that's upset anybody watching, I’m so sorry but things like that were happening every day for eight months.”
When asked if she'd like to see Strictly taken off air, Amanda said: “I love Strictly, I think this is just an anomaly, I love Strictly. I always wanted to do that show, and I think it's such a beautiful British institution, and I think everybody loves it…
“Most people on that show are wonderful, and I've made some good friends on that show, and I don't want it to end. I want it to have a beautiful, extended life, because it's really, you know, it's Saturday night entertainment. I don't know what the answer is. I don't, because, you know, it's not up to me.”
Lorraine producers asked Giovanni Pernice for a reply to Amanda's comments, to which his spokesperson said: "We are cooperating fully with the BBC's review process. All parties have been asked to respect this process and to not speak to the media before it concludes. We will continue to respect the integrity of the investigation and believe it is the right forum for all the evidence to be reviewed. As part of the evidence-led review, the BBC has shared the allegations they have been able to substantiate with us.
"They do not resemble Amanda's latest allegations, given to ITV, in any shape or form. We would urge people to wait for the review's conclusion and not to pay heed to very serious and defamatory allegations that have no evidence in support of them. Giovanni refutes any claim of threatening or abusive behaviour and have provided the BBC with his evidence, is confident that the review with prove this."
The BBC also provided a comment to Lorraine's show, with bosses saying: "Anyone involved in a complaint has a right to confidentially and fair process and therefore it would be inappropriate to comment further on individuals. However, when issues are raised with us we always take them extremely seriously and have appropriate processes in place to manage this.
"The BBC and BBC Studios takes duty of care extremely seriously - our processes on Strictly are kept under constant review and last week we announced additional steps to further strengthen welfare and support on the show."
See the full list of Strictly professionals for 2024:
Vito Coppola
Vito joined the show in 2022 and made it all the way to the final with Hits Radio presenter Fleur East. In 2024, Vito went one step further, winning the show with former Corrie actress Ellie Leach.
Amy Dowden
Caerphilly-born Amy first joined Strictly in 2017 and quickly became a fan favourite. In 2023 she was forced to miss the show after being diagnosed with cancer in May. After undergoing successful treatment, it's now been confirmed Amy will return to the show for the 2024 series!
Gorka Marquez
Gorka joined the show in 2016 and has danced in three finals. In 2023 he was paired with Nikita Kanda.
Dianne Buswell
Dianne was a professional on the Australian version of Strictly Come Dancing before she joined the UK cast in 2017. In 2023, she made it to the final with Bobby Brazier.
Karen Hauer
Karen is the longest serving dancer in the current line-up, having joined in 2012. Last year she was paired with Eddie Kadi.
Katya Jones
Katya lifted the glitterball with actor Joe McFadden in 2017 and has been a Strictly professional since 2016. She danced with actor Nigel Harman in 2023.
Johannes Radebe
Johannes has been a Strictly pro since 2018. He danced with Tennis legend Annabel Croft in 2023.
Kai Widdrington
Kai became a professional dancer in 2021, when he reached the final with presenter AJ Odudu but had to pull out due to an injury. Last year, Kai was paired with Angela Rippon.
Jowita Przystal
Jowita joined the show in 2021 and was given her first professional partner, Hamza Yassin, in the 2022 series, with the pair went on to win the show. Jowita was then paired with Jody Cundy in 2023.
Carlos Gu
Carlos joined Strictly Come Dancing in 2022 and was partnered with CBBC star Molly Rainford. The pair reached the final of the show. Last year, Carlos was paired with Angela Scanlon.
Nikita Kuzmin
Nikita joined the show in 2021. He made the final during the 2023 series alongside his partner Layton Williams.
Nancy Xu
Nancy was paired with actor Les Dennis in 2023. She has been a professional on the show since 2019.
Neil Jones
Neil has been a Strictly professional since 2016. His past celebrity partners include professional footballer Alex Scott and actress and comedian Nina Wadia.
Lauren Oakley
Lauren joined Strictly Come Dancing in 2022, and her first celebrity partner was Krishnan Guru-Murthy during the 2023 series.
Luba Mushtuk
Luba became a professional dancer on the programme in 2018. In 2023 she was paired with actor Adam Thomas.
Nadiya Bychkova
Nadiya joined the show in 2017. In 2022, she danced with Matt Goss. She was without a celebrity partner last year.
Michelle Tsiakkas
Michelle joined Strictly in 2022. She was without a celebrity partner last year.
Aljaž Škorjanec
Aljaž Škorjanec appeared on the show for a massive nine years before announcing he'd quit in 2022. However, much to the delight of fans, BBC bosses confirmed in July 2024 that he will be returning a professional dancer for the 2024 series.
After number of complaints and accusations from past contestants, the BBC's Director General Tim Davie issued an apology earlier this week, confirming the 2024 series will still go ahead as planned.
The likes of Amy Downden, Gorka Márquez and Dianne Buswell were all back in rehearsals this week, prepping for the 20th anniversary series.
Strictly Come Dancing will return in September.
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