Amanda Abbington has been seen looking tearful after she called former Strictly partner Giovanni Pernice ‘nasty’ (Picture: Topstar-WJ Images / Backgrid)
Amanda Abbington has been spotted looking upset after breaking her silence on her experience working with Giovanni Pernice.
The Sherlock actress, 50, was paired with the Italian professional dancer, 33, on the last season of the long-running BBC series.
However, she unexpectedly left after just five weeks, with reports later claiming her departure was due to a behind-the-scenes feud with her partner and it was later said she was seeking legal advice.
After Giovanni said he was ‘looking forward to clearing my name’ it was confirmed by the BBC he wouldn’t be part of the upcoming season.
Now, this week, Amanda has been snapped being comforted by a friend in the midst of the allegations made against her former dance partner.
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On Wednesday the actress looked tearful while being comforted by actress Sue Vincent as they stood outside The Groucho Club in London.
She was snapped being embraced by Sue Vincent outside a private member’s club in London (Picture: Topstar-WJ Images / Backgrid)
The actress said she’d recently been subjected to death threats (Picture: Topstar-WJ Images/ Backgrid)
The pair were chatting outside the private member’s club before Sue wrapped her arms around Amanda in an embrace.
It comes after she labelled Giovanni ‘nasty’ and said she was being subjected to trolling and death threats on social media.
However, over the past few weeks, some other former Strictly stars have rushed to defend him.
Head judge Shirley Ballas recently told The Sun that Giovanni had ‘always been a perfect gentleman’ during their interactions since they met a decade ago.
Amanda left Strictly after five weeks last season (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
Giovanni has said he was ‘surprised’ by the allegations being made against him (Picture: BBC)
‘I don’t condone bullying on any path. But I don’t believe gossip because things are blown way out,’ she said.
Shirley added that she would not judge anyone until the investigation being conducted by the BBC had been fully carried out, also saying he would be ‘missed’ on the show this year.
It was previously reported that other celebrities who Giovanni had competed with on Strictly in the past, Laura Whitmore and Ranvir Singh, had met up to ‘compare notes’ about their experiences with him.
However last month he issued a statement to his fans, saying how ‘surprised’ he was that allegations had been made about his ‘dance teaching methods’, before adding: ‘Of course, I reject any suggestion of abusive or threatening behaviour, and I look forward to clearing my name.’
Strictly Come Dancing will return to the BBC later this year.
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