Threats from Strictly fans ‘brutal, relentless, unforgiving’ – Amanda Abbington

Amanda Abbington said she has been under pressure from “brutal, relentless and unforgiving” threats from fans of the Strictly Come Dancing programme.

The Sherlock actress has previously made accusations about the teaching methods of her Strictly partner, Giovanni Pernice , who has since left the BBC One show.

Pernice has strongly denied her claims of “unnecessary, abusive, cruel and mean” behaviour.

Abbington was interviewed by Channel 4 News presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy, who was a competitor on her series, in an interview published on Wednesday.

The actress becoming tearful, said it has been “brutal, relentless and unforgiving”, before clarifying that she was speaking about the “rape threats towards not only myself, but my daughter and the threats of death to my son”.

Asked if these came from Strictly fans, she agreed and also alleged the behaviour came from supporters of Pernice.

She said she wants to encourage people who feel “bullied” or are in a situation they feel is “toxic and unsafe” to complain, despite the backlash she has allegedly received.

Abbington said: “I know it happened because it happened to me. I am not a sensational person… I’m not hysterical. I don’t make things out to be bigger than they are.

“I know what happened to me in that room wasn’t acceptable. I complained about it and sort of have not been taken seriously.

“We have to cultivate a society and an environment where women can come forward and say, ‘yeah’… or men because it happens to men as well, ‘I’m finding this uncomfortable. Can you do something about it?’ And then something be done about it? That’s all.

“And I think, we need to be brave and I want to stand up for any woman, 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.'”

There has been a storm of negative stories about the culture on the BBC’s flagship programme and the treatment of contestants.

Abbington said that she knows of “three other women” who went through something similar during their Strictly Come Dancing experiences and there is “potentially” more people coming forward.

The actress, known for Mr Selfridge, also clarified that there are “five or six (other complainants) from what I can gather, but there’s three main people, who’ve made complaints, mine’s the official one”.

She said that after leaving the show she had “several messages… from some of the producers” but then “didn’t really hear from anybody again”.

Asked if there was any after-care provided, she replied: “No, it would have been nice, I suppose.”

Abbington also said she was not asked to come back for the final despite reports that she declined.

She also claimed that there are 50 hours of video footage, from cameras she alleges were installed after she raised concerns during her first week, that Pernice “doesn’t want anyone to see”, which she says has been reviewed by the BBC.

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

Abbington said she went through “bullying and aggressive behaviour”.

She added: “There were other things that were very upsetting, that you manage in the room at the time, because you’re a woman, and you have to manage those things because otherwise, what do you do?”

Abbington also claims she was contacted by people who shared what they said were their negative experiences of dancing with him.

She says that Pernice’s former dancer partners told her “I’m so sorry”, when they heard the news that she was partnered with him.

Graziano Di Prima left the show after allegations about his treatment of Love Island star Zara McDermott.

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

While presenting the BBC’s annual report, Mr Davie told journalists there will inevitably be “competitiveness, hard work and the will to do well” on the show, “but there are limits and the line should never be crossed”.

He added: “We will never tolerate unacceptable behaviour of any kind.”

Asked if he is confident the show will go ahead this series, he said: “I need to be assured we have the right safeguarding and duty of care in place, and that is the first question I ask.

“I am assured by the robust actions we have taken in terms of the changes we have made … that we are in a position to deliver a very good season this year and that has been my focus.”

Abbington said she is “glad” Mr Davie “acknowledged it”.

She also said she loves Strictly, and is “envious of the people who had a wonderful experience on that show, I’m so glad they did, and I feel really sad that I didn’t get to fulfil my journey”.

Rehearsals for the new series began on Monday, and on Wednesday professionals including Johannes Radebe, Amy Dowden and Dianne Buswell were all smiles as they arrived to practise at a London dance studio.

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.

Following her remarks, former contestant and Paralympian Will Bayley revealed he had suffered a serious injury while performing a jump in Strictly rehearsals, and has claimed he was shown “no duty of care”.

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

His torn knee ligaments forced him to pull out of the series in 2019, and he alleged in an interview with the Sun newspaper that producers were told the jump from a table during a routine was too dangerous, but he was encouraged to do it anyway. He claims that after his injury, show bosses made him feel as though it was his fault.

A BBC statement to the PA news agency 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.”

A statement sent to PA from 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.”

The full interview is available on Channel4.com and its YouTube channel.