Amanda Abbington left the BBC reality show during week five and complained to the BBC about the behaviour of Giovanni Pernice during their time together – sitting down in her first TV interview to briefly discuss what happened.
When she first left the series, the former Sherlock star claimed it was due to medical reasons, then came out a couple of weeks later and alleged she was “bullied” by the Italian dancer.
Sitting down with Channel 4 News presenter and former Strictly Come Dancing colleague Krishnan Guru-Murphy, Abbington explained that her past experience with PTSD was brought back to light when dealing with Pernice.
Guru-Murphy kicked off their discussion, and noted that he had seen Abbington “having a hard time. You have been having a hard year,” to which she replied: “Yeah it hasn’t been easy. You start to think, well you know, am I going mad?
“But as you know I am not mad. It’s been brutal and relentless and unforgiving. The aftermath has been something that I wasn’t expecting.”
She went on to explain that the trolling from Strictly and Giovanni fans was relentless and “was getting dozens a day,” which included death threats to herself as well as her family.
Amanda Abbington revealed there were 50 hours of footage of her time with Giovanni Pernice
CHANNEL 4
When asked what she thought the experience was going to be like going into the show, she said: “I went into it thinking this is going to be hard work, it is a challenge, there will be an element of hard work and I am a grafter.
“I also thought there would be a time to laugh, I wasn’t expecting this. I can’t go into too much detail because the complaint is ongoing. At the moment they are gathering evidence from the BBC and witnesses and choreographers and other witnesses who have been on the show in the past.”
Guru-Murphy touched on the fact that when the initial claims were first reported, Abbington denied the claims and that himself and others then found it confusing when she backed up the allegations.
Abbington admitted: “I didn’t want to rock the boat, I wanted it to look like it was ok. I will always take the blame for things and I would check myself and think I am not going mad and I am not seeing this in other rooms and everyone else was having a nice time and I wasn’t.
Amanda Abbington left the competition during week five
BBC
“There is 50 hours of footage that is being blocked. 50 hours is a lot of footage and a lot of time spent in a room that was toxic. In the first week, I raised my concerns to the producers and they quickly said they would put in a camera.
“Giovanni said he asked for them but he didn’t. I know he didn’t. Every Friday for the five weeks I would get the producers saying they had watched the footage and they were shocked and would apologise.
“There is evidence out there of what happened in that room and I am not blocking it. It is bullying and aggressive behaviour and other things that were quite upsetting that you would manage as a woman.”
The 50-year-old added that Pernice was the one who was blocking the tapes from being seen, adding that she would be happy for people to watch them and noted that it “says something” about the dancer not wanting them to be released.
Graziano Di Prima was the second professional to be axed from the series
BBC
Abbington’s complaints sparked others to come forward about what they had seen and been through on the show, with one eye-witness going to Strictly bosses and claiming Graziano Di Prima “kicked, hit and spat” at Zara McDermott.
Di Prima has since been axed from the show and apologised for his actions, noting that his “passion” for dance and the show may have altered the way he taught the former Love Island star.
Anton Du Beke, Janette Manrara, Ola Jordan and one unnamed female professional have also been brought into the saga.
GB News has contacted Abbington’s representatives for a comment.
