S Poddar
Amanda Abbington has revealed she may take more action against the BBC after their investigation into the Strictly Come Dancing bullying allegations against herself and Giovanni Pernice. The actress starred in the latest series of the show but claims her dance partner launched a campaign of harassment against her in rehearsals.
In a landmark interview with the Newsnight‘s Victoria Derbyshire, Abbington said candidly enough that she too had faced harassment by Pernice while working with him. She even told them that he had made inappropriate sexual gestures and used offensive language against her while on the show, thus portraying a disturbing picture.
Abbington said Pernice has been making a outrageous sexually suggestive gesture, constantly verbally abusing her. “It was constant litany of verbal abuse, sexual innuendos, sexual gestures,” she explained. Describing one incident, she recounted: “There was a 35 minute rant at me with his hands thrown up in the air, calling me names and saying he could not cop with it anymore.”
These admissions come after a six-month BBC inquiry into Pernice’s behavior. The inquiry could find that there had been no physical attack but did substantiate several of the accusations of verbal bullying and harassment Abbington made. The BBC have now formally apologized to Abbington, which she said was significant; however, she also commented that maybe it may not have ended that particular chapter.
Abbington also disclosed that she had thrown a reunion for former Strictly performers with whom Pernice has been partnered, stating that the group collectively experienced comparable pain of having been allegedly bullied. “We all cried,” she revealed, as comforted by the realization they were not alone. Abbington did not name her abusers, however, several reports claim that two of them are former Love Island host Laura Whitmore and Good Morning Britain presenter Ranvir Singh, who also reportedly accused Pernice with similar acts in the course of the investigation.
The BBC investigation proved six of Abbington’s allegations to be true, meaning that her accusations of verbal abuse and harassment were true. On the other hand, Pernice’ legal team dismissed the other allegations shortly. On the day the investigation report was released, Abbington’s lawyers made a statement dismissing Abbington’s new allegations. Pernice responded to the conclusions of the investigation that he was relieved to be exonerated of claims of threatening and physically abusive behavior. A representative of the dancer said: “Giovanni is pleased that the report does not find any evidence for the claims of threatening or abusive behaviour, most of which were laid and not upheld.”.
However, Abbington noted that she is still weighing her options. In the Newsnight interview, she said that she was consulting her lawyers about possible further action. “There’s a 30-page report that me and my lawyers are still digesting,” she said. “There are still things in there that are unresolved.”
Her comments reveal that the apology by the BBC is appreciated but may not have been enough to offset the psychological damage done and did leave questionings as well in regard to the whole experience on Strictly Come Dancing. Abbington revealed that she was taking her decision very seriously, talking to her lawyers daily as she determines what to do.
The psychological impact was somehow felt as well when Abbington spoke about her experience on Strictly. She revealed that the whole rehearsal with Pernice left an incredible stress; she described it as one of the worst periods in her life. “I lost all sense of reality,” she said. “It has been one of the worst years of my life. I have been through a lot. Women go through a lot. I’ve had to put up with all sorts of vile things happening just because I have complained.”
During the interview, Abbington continued brazenly decisive in her position, taking pains to explain why she had come forward to make her complaints. She brushed off the slightest inference that she had given utterance to her accusations lightly but made it clear she had, during her long careers as an actress and otherwise, mostly dealt out more than her own share of hard knocks. “I’ve worked 32 years as an actress, in a job that began the MeToo movement, and I’ve never had to leave a job or experience anything like I did in that rehearsal room,” she said. “I don’t make accusations lightly.”
While much emotional and professional work has followed, Abbington’s public statements suggest a determination to find a way to make things right. That can be in court or once more through advocacy on behalf of others as similarly victimized or worse. The BBC investigation seems to have concluded. An actor’s continued consultation with her legal team suggests that is not the case for her.
That as such things happen, Abbington’s decision to speak her mind about Pernice could be all that is needed to continue a much-needed debate on workplace conduct and accountability within the entertainment industry.
