BBC Close To Ruling On Amanda Abbington’s ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ Misconduct Claims

The BBC is “pretty close” to finalizing an investigation into Amanda Abbington’s allegations that she was mistreated by her Strictly Come Dancing partner Giovanni Pernice.

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BBC director general Tim Davie told the RTS London Convention that the corporation is on the brink of ruling on Abbington’s concerns, although he did not commit to publishing the findings.

There was some hope that the investigation could be finalized before the new season of Strictly Come Dancing got underway on Saturday, but Davie said the BBC was unable to hit the deadline.

“Many things in life would be useful, but we have to do the process,” he told Amol Rajan, presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Today show.

In October 2023, Abbington, an actress best known for her work as Mary Watson in BBC drama Sherlock , abruptly quit Season 21 of Strictly citing “personal reasons.”

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She later engaged Carter Ruck, the aggressive London law firm, to pursue a complaint with the BBC about Pernice. The precise nature of her allegations is unclear, but she has called the Italian “nasty” and accused him of inappropriate, bullying behavior during her five weeks on Strictly .

Other women are also said to have concerns about Pernice’s training methods, including presenters Laura Whitmore and Ranvir Singh. Pernice strongly denies wrongdoing and says he is cooperating with the BBC investigation. He was benched for Season 22.

Sources close to Abbington have voiced anxiety in the UK tabloid press that the BBC review will not rule in her favor. Her friends told The Sun that she is worried that the review will be a “whitewash.”

The BBC has introduced training room chaperones on the new season of Strictly , a recognition that misconduct claims have some merit. It followed Strictly professional dancer Graziano Di Prima being fired after the BBC was handed rehearsal video evidence of him kicking partner Zara McDermott , the Love Island star. The dancer did not recall the specific incident but acknowledged it happened and has apologized.

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