Amanda Abbington in tears as she opens up on ‘hardest year of her life’ after Strictly

Amanda Abbington said she has no “regrets” over the past year, which she admitted has been the hardest, after she quit Strictly Come Dancing and subsequently accused her professional partner, Giovanni Pernice, of bullying

Amanda Abbington was in tears as she spoke about the ‘hardest year of her life’ after Strictly

Amanda Abbington has admitted the last year has been “tricky” but she has no regrets amid the Strictly Come Dancing scandal. The actress quit the BBC show in 2023 before accusing her professional partner, Giovanni Pernice, of bullying during rehearsals.

The BBC ended up apologising to Amanda after upholding some of her less serious claims against the dancer, who has since quit the show. However, the actress insists she has no regrets about the past few months.

During an appearance on This Morning today with hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard, they chatted about her new stage show. However, the interview didn’t end without a mention of the tough few months she has had.

In a new interview on This Morning today, Amanda got emotional as she said: “It’s been tricky. I don’t want to go over old ground. I don’t regret what happened. It’s time to move on – it was one of the hardest years of my life.”

Amanda spoke with Ben and Cat on This Morning today

Amanda also discussed her plans to postpone her wedding to Jonathan Goodwin, the Britain’s Got Talent star. Before meeting Jonathan, Amanda was married to actor Martin Freeman, who she starred with in BBC show Sherlock.

“We just want to get this year out of the way. we still have things hanging over us in terms of litigation. We want to get this year out of the way,” she said of their plans to postpone their big day to 2026.

With the allegations Amanda made about Giovanni, the BBC investigated and upheld some of the complaints including Giovanni’s use of swear words and belittling language. At the time, commenting on the conclusion, Amanda said: “As the BBC has indicated today in its statement, 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.”

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Amanda and Giovanni were partnered together on the show

She added: “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.”

Over the weekend, Amanda did a lengthy interview where she admitted she was worried people didn’t like her anymore, but was left feeling positive about the future. Speaking about being the villain, she said: “I was made out to be the villain. I don’t know what the industry thinks of me at the moment. I’ve been immersed in the aftermath of it all for a year. I don’t know whether I’ve been cancelled or whether people don’t like me any more, but I know I did what I did for the right reasons. I feel good about the future.”