Amanda Abbingdon hails ‘vindication’ over BBC’s Strictly apology after ‘vile abuse’ following Giovanni Pernice complaint

Actress Amanda Abbingdon has called a BBC apology over complaints of bullying on Strictly Come Dancing a “vindication”.

A BBC investigation into Abbingdon’s claims “upheld some, but not all” of her complaints about professional dancer Giovanni Pernice’s behaviour during her time on Strictly.

The Sherlock actress, who pulled out of the BBC One show last year citing “personal reasons”, later claimed she was subject to a “toxic environment” and “inappropriate, mean, nasty bullying”.

In a statement, the 50-year-old performer said: “My decision to come forward and complain about Giovanni Pernice’s conduct towards me was not an easy thing to do. In the days, weeks and months since I contacted the BBC, I’ve been accused of being a liar, a troublemaker and of being “mad and unstable”.

“I’ve also received rape and murder threats and a bomb threat was sent to my place of work. My family and children have also been subjected to threats and intimidation.

“Despite this vile abuse, I’ve never regretted coming forward, and today’s apology from the BBC is a vindication of my complaint. It’s not just a vindication for me, it’s a vindication for the other people who have contacted me since I made my complaint to express concerns about their own experiences on Strictly Come Dancing.

“I hope those who have felt unable to speak out now will be more confident that they will be listened to and believed.”

She said she will now be considering whether to meet with senior management at the BBC, and hoped the corporation “makes the changes it promised”.

Pernice, 34, has previously denied the allegations, and earlier this month announced he was joining the Italian “equivalent of Dancing With The Stars”.

In a statement summarising its findings, the broadcaster said: “We take any allegations of bullying and harassment very seriously and this review has taken time due to its complex nature and our desire to ensure a rigorous and robust process was undertaken.

“Strictly Come Dancing is a family show and we rightly expect very high standards. While competition can be tough, rigorous and demanding, we want the show to ultimately be a joyous and transformative experience. It is a great shame if this hasn’t been the case for everyone who has appeared on the show.

“We have assessed the complaints and we have upheld some, but not all, of the complaints made. We want to apologise to Amanda Abbington and to thank her for coming forward and taking part. We know this would not have been an easy thing to do.”

While it said the Strictly production team “took steps to address the issues as they understood them” at the time, the corporation admitted “ultimately these were not enough”.

The BBC also thanked “a number of individuals” aside from Abbingdon who contributed to the investigation.

It then listed various new duty of care measures, introduced to protect contestants, including the presence of a production team member in training and rehearsals, two newly created production roles (celebrity welfare producer and professional dancer welfare producer) and additional training for the professional dancers, production team and crew.

The BBC say 15 training room observers are now in place for rehearsals (including breaks, warm-ups and rest periods) and it has implemented “weekly welfare meetings”, which include a review of daily training logs.

In addition, there is also a “pre-series psychological review”, workshops on the culture and expected behaviour of the show and a formal exit interview for all outgoing contestants.

Strictly’s 20th anniversary season is now in its fourth week, with Olympic swimmer Tom Dean becoming the first contestant to leave the show on Sunday.

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