Amanda Abbington: I don’t have much confidence after Strictly ‘bullying’

The Sherlock actress, 50, claims she was as subjected to “inappropriate, mean, nasty bullying” in a “toxic environment” while rehearsing for the BBC One show.

Her former professional partner, Giovanni Pernice – who has left the celebrity dance programme, has strongly denied her allegations.

Abbington told ITV News on Thursday that while rehearsing for a new play, she has “compartmentalised the Strictly stuff”.

She added: “It feels very cathartic being back in there in a rehearsal room that is safe and, and where you can dare to fail and and feel comfortable.”

Abbington also said: “I still feel like… I don’t have much confidence at the moment.”

She said the issues began early on, and despite raising them several times, they would re-occur.

“We’d have a meeting and there would be an apology (from Giovanni), I’d accept the apology, we would come to an understanding, then we’d go into the live show and that would be fine.. in the room with producers,” Abbington said.

“And then on the Monday would be fine and then it would again just by the Thursday, it would be unworkable again.”

A spokesman for Pernice said: “We are co-operating 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 Channel 4, in any shape or form.

“Giovanni refutes any claim of threatening or abusive behaviour, and, having provided the BBC with his evidence, is confident that the review will prove this.

“We would urge people to wait for the review’s conclusion and not to pay heed to these very serious and defamatory allegations that have no evidence in support of them.”

Abbington also told ITV News that other former Strictly contestants also want to come forward about their experiences.

She said: “I think women are very scared to say something and stick their head above the parapet for fear of being not believed, or being ridiculed or being told… they’re overreacting.

“I’ve spoken to several women, who won’t come forward because of that, because they’re terrified of the fallout of what would happen if they did.”

In an interview with her former Strictly co-star, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, for Channel 4 News on Wednesday, she claimed there are 50 hours of video footage – from cameras she alleges were installed after she raised concerns during her first week – which Pernice “doesn’t want anyone to see” but have been reviewed by the BBC.

The actress claimed producers were “shocked and horrified” after they viewed her training films, but said she is unable to provide more detail because of the ongoing BBC review of her complaint.

In an interview with ITV’s Lorraine, she alleged the behaviour was “inappropriate, it was mean, it was nasty, it was bullying, and I put up with it for five weeks”.

A spokesman for Pernice told the PA news agency: “Giovanni has not seen or blocked the video footage which belongs to the BBC.

“Gio has chosen not to receive it to preserve the integrity of the review.

“The BBC has shared the allegations and there are none, nor any evidence, that resemble Amanda Abbington’s numerous and variable allegations.”

On Tuesday, BBC director-general Tim Davie apologised to contestants who had an experience that “hasn’t been wholly positive”, and maintained that Strictly will return.

Professional dancer Graziano Di Prima left the show after allegations about his treatment of Love Island star Zara McDermott in 2023, while Paralympian Will Bayley said he suffered a serious injury while performing a jump during rehearsals in 2019, and claimed he was shown “no duty of care”.

A BBC statement said: “Anyone involved in a complaint has a right to confidentiality 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. As we have said before, we would urge people not to indulge in speculation.

“More generally, the BBC and BBC Studios takes duty of care extremely seriously. Our processes on Strictly Come Dancing are updated every year, they are kept under constant review, and last week we announced additional steps to further strengthen welfare and support on the show.”

On July 16 the BBC said it would introduce measures to “strengthen welfare and support” on the show, including a chaperone who will be present “at all times” during training room rehearsals.

Abbington said in January she had been “diagnosed with mild PTSD” and had received death threats during her stint on the show.

She withdrew from the competition in week six citing “personal reasons”, but gave no further detail until revealing she had made a complaint about the show this month.