Abbington said she made a complaint because she didn’t want anyone else to go through what she had.
She added she wanted to encourage people who feel they are being bullied or are in a “toxic and unsafe” situation to be able to speak up.
“We have to cultivate a society and an environment where women can come forward… or men because it happens to men as well [and say] ‘I’m finding this uncomfortable. Can you do something about it?'” she said.
“And I think, we need to be brave and I want to stand up for any woman… who feels that they don’t have a voice or be there for her championing her and say, ‘Yeah, I’ve got you.”‘
The actress has claimed she knows of “three other women” who went through something similar during Strictly, adding that there were “potentially” more people to come forward. The does not know who these allegations relate to.
She said since she left the show, she had had several messages from producers but after that, “[I] didn’t really hear from anyone.”
When asked if there should have been aftercare in place, she said: “It would’ve been nice.”
Abbington was speaking to Channel 4 presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy, who competed on the same series as her.
Guru-Murthy said that his experiences on the show, unlike Abbington’s, had been “amazing”. Abbington said she was aware that lots of people had a better time, adding: “I feel really sad that I didn’t get to fulfil my journey.”
