Amanda Abbington’s Bombshell Claim That 50 Hours of Strictly Footage Were Kept from Her

Former Strictly Come Dancing star Amanda Abbington, who exited the BBC competition after being partnered with Giovanni Pernice, has revealed she felt “abandoned” by BBC bosses during the bullying row.

In a tearful interview with Channel 4 News, Amanda, 50, expressed her frustration, saying, “It’s been brutal, and relentless, and unforgiving. The aftermath has been something that I wasn’t expecting. You know, the death threats and the rape threats towards not only myself but my daughter, and threats of deaths to my son.”

Abbington disclosed that she and her lawyer are attempting to access 50 hours of rehearsal footage filmed after she raised her initial concerns. She stated, “There’s 50 hours of footage that’s being blocked. You know, 50 hours is a lot of footage, and a lot of time spent in a room that was toxic.”

“So in the first week, I raised my concerns to the producers. Giovanni said that he asked for the cameras; he didn’t ask for the cameras. The producers came to me and said, ‘we’re going to put in cameras so we can view the footage at the end of the week and make an assessment and see what’s going on’.”

“And then every Friday, after the next sort of five weeks, I would get the producer saying, on the Friday, ‘we just watched the footage back, we are shocked and horrified, we’re so sorry.’ That was to my face on the Friday when we would go in and do the camera rehearsal.”

Abbington also mentioned that despite the evidence available, the footage is being blocked by Giovanni. “I’ve said anyone can watch it, but he doesn’t want anyone to see it, which is quite telling if he’s got nothing to hide.”

Addressing the apology from BBC Director General Tim Davie, she responded, “I’m glad he’s acknowledged it. I read an article saying, ‘Amanda wants to bring down Strictly’. No, I love Strictly. I would love to have had a beautiful experience on it. I really would. I’m 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.”

Amanda stated that no one from the BBC had contacted her since she left the show: “I got several messages afterwards from some of the producers, just checking in to see how I was. But then when all the fallout happened, and then everybody started piling on and the death threats came in, and they were reported in the press and all the misinformation went out there. I didn’t really hear from anybody again.”

Discussing the ongoing BBC enquiry and other complaints from former contestants, Abbington said: “I know a lot of people went in to speak to them. I’m the official complainer. I think there’s about 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.”

When asked by Guru-Murthy if she was talking about bullying, she replied, “Yes, it’s bullying and it’s aggressive behaviour, 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?”

Amanda confirmed that the violent threats were from die-hard Strictly and Giovanni Pernice fans. “When you get one or two of those, you kind of go ‘Oh god, okay’, but I was getting dozens a day on social media – like dozens of people just saying ‘you should go and kill yourself’. Other people told me that they hope I die of cancer or said that my kids would be better off if I killed myself.”

Amanda complained to the BBC about five weeks of inappropriate behaviour before pulling out after being diagnosed with PTSD. The BBC has since launched an investigation, with other former contestants also coming forward with complaints.

In response, BBC Director General Tim Davie issued an apology to Strictly contestants who have been victims of bullying or abuse. He emphasized the importance of maintaining the show while ensuring no unacceptable behaviour is tolerated. New safety measures, including a chaperone present during all training room rehearsals, are set to be implemented in the upcoming series.