Amanda Abbington has given an emotional interview in the wake of the Strictly bullying investigation.
The Sherlock actress, 50, had her case with the BBC closed after the channel released the findings from its internal review into allegations of bullying and abuse. In a summary, the channel apologised to Amanda partly, but not wholly, for the abuse she faced, but said there was no abuse at the hands of her partner Giovanni Pernice.
Giving her first interview after the findings were published on Wednesday (October 2nd), Amanda appeared shaken up by the results. She went on to make a number of new claims on the BBC, leaving fans horrified.
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She made claims in an interview with BBC news programme Newsnight that she had not responded well to Giovanni’s strict way of teaching. When pressed for more information by host Victoria Derbyshire, the actress said this was one of the allegations that were upheld by the BBC.
(Image: BBC)
Reading from the 30-page report into the probe, Amanda said in a trembling voice: “There were two allegations of inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature. They were upheld and one of them was physical and one was verbal.”
Clearly still disturbed by the situation, Amanda went on to say: “And they weren’t isolated one-off incidents. They were over a period of seven weeks.”
In total, six of the seventeen claims the actress had made against the dancer were upheld by the probe, which also looked into the so-called “toxic culture” of the show. This added investigation led to the dismissal of another Italian pro, Graziano di Prima, after footage emerged of him kicking, spitting at and hitting partner Zara McDermott.
(Image: PA)
Giovanni has always maintained his innocence, adding when the allegations were made that he “looks forward to clearing his name”. Victoria read out Giovanni’s statement following the interview, with the added message: “We are unable to comment any further and the BBC has asked both parties to respect confidentially.”
Amanda raised the allegations shortly after she left last year’s series midway through the competition. In the months since then, she has said that the experience was so harrowing, it left her with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Opening up to host Victoria, Amanda admitted: “It’s bene one of the worst years of my life. I’ve been through a lot, women go through a lot, but it has been a very unpleasant, turbulent, relentless time in my life; I’ve had to deal with a myriad of horrible things.”
(Image: BBC)
The star went on to say that she has received threats of violence and death to both her and her family, including one where the police were eventually called. Amanda said that the barrage of abuse from dedicated fans of the Italian dancer has been tough to bear but she is sending screenshots to the Met Police.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
