‘Sherlock’ Star Amanda Abbington Says BBC Failed To Take Her ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ Abuse Concerns Seriously & “Blocked” 50 Hours Of Evidence

Amanda Abbington, the Sherlock actress who has sparked a duty of care scandal on Strictly Come Dancing , has criticized the BBC’s handling of her concerns.

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In an emotional 45-minute interview with Channel 4 News, Abbington accused the BBC of failing to take seriously her complaint about dance partner Giovanni Pernice, who strongly denies wrongdoing.

The actress, who appeared on Strictly last year, claimed that the BBC is sitting on 50 hours of footage, which producers have acknowledged to her is problematic.

On Tuesday, BBC director general Tim Davie apologized to Strictly contestants who have not had a positive experience on the show. The corporation is currently investigating Abbington’s complaint.

Abbington said she complained to producers about Pernice in her first week on the show, which is known as Dancing With The Stars in the U.S.

She said BBC Studios producers decided to film the couple’s rehearsals so they could “make an assessment” about Pernice’s behavior on a weekly basis.

“Every Friday after that for the next five weeks, I would get the producers saying: ‘We’ve just watched the footage back, we are shocked and horrified, we are so sorry.'”

Abbington told Krishnan Guru-Murthy that she has engaged Carter Ruck, an aggressive London law firm, to secure compensation from the BBC for loss of earnings and emotional trauma.

Her lawyers have been “blocked” from viewing 50 hours of footage, Abbington claimed. “He [Pernice] doesn’t want anyone to see it, which is quite telling if you’ve got nothing to hide,” she added.

Abbington has not been specific about her allegations against Pernice, but said she had experienced “bullying and aggressive” verbal behavior during her training and was made to feel as if she was “not doing a good job.”

Abbington also alleged that she had experienced what Guru-Murthy described as “humiliating behavior of a sexual nature.” Again, she was not specific about what this involved.

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A spokesperson for Pernice said he is now privy to evidence that the BBC has “been able to substantiate” as part of its investigation. They said this evidence does not support Abbington’s allegations “in any shape or form.”

Abbington said there were “pockets” of training when Pernice “was nice and he was positive” but it later became “disastrously unworkable” and her training was “toxic” and unsafe. She added: “I did the best I could do, I know I worked as hard as I could, I know that I put in 100% commitment.”

In response to Abbington’s concerns — as well as an allegation from fellow contestant Zara McDermott that she was kicked by her partner during training — the BBC has introduced chaperones to the next season of Strictly Come Dancing .

Abbington was uncertain whether chaperones would make a difference because she claimed that producers were aware of her concerns during filming. Despite her misgivings, Abbington said she was pleased that Strictly had not been canceled or rested because it is a “British institution.”

A BBC spokesperson 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 representative for Pernice said: “We are cooperating 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.”

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