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The BBC has apologised to former Strictly Come Dancing contestant Amanda Abbington, saying it had assessed and upheld “some, but not all, of the complaints made”.
In a statement, the broadcaster said: “The BBC has now concluded its review into the complaints made by Amanda Abbington against Giovanni Pernice. We take any allegations of bullying and harassment very seriously and this review has taken time due to its complex nature and our desire to ensure a rigorous and robust process was undertaken.
“Strictly Come Dancing is a family show and we rightly expect very high standards. While competition can be tough, rigorous and demanding, we want the show to ultimately be a joyous and transformative experience. It is a great shame if this hasn’t been the case for everyone who has appeared on the show.
“We have assessed the complaints and we have upheld some, but not all, of the complaints made. We want to apologise to Amanda Abbington and to thank her for coming forward and taking part. We know this would not have been an easy thing to do.”
There were no findings relating to physical aggression, but complaints of verbal bullying and harassment were upheld, the PA news agency understands.
In a written statement, Abbington responded: “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. 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. It’s not just a vindication for me, it’s a vindication for the other people who have contacted me since I made my complaint to express concerns about their own experiences on Strictly Come Dancing. I hope those who have felt unable to speak out now will be more confident that they will be listened to and believed.
“The BBC has invited me to meet with senior management and this is something I will now be considering.
“This apology means a great deal to me. So too does the fact that the BBC have acknowledged the steps that were put in place to support and protect me and past contestants were ‘not enough’.
“What matters most now is that lessons have been learned and that the BBC makes the changes they’ve promised, to ensure others don’t experience the same ordeal that I and others like me did.”
The chief content officer at the BBC said a number of complaints under its bullying and harassment policy were upheld, but said she was unable to go into further detail on the allegations made by Abbington about her time on Strictly Come Dancing.
Charlotte Moore told the BBC: “There were a number of complaints under our bullying and harassment policy, and a number of those complaints have been upheld. Not all of them, but a number of them have been upheld.
“I’m not able to go into further detail on that, and there are very good reasons for that.
“It’s probably worth me just laying out the confidentiality of a complaints process, which I think is absolutely integral to the complaints process, and confidentiality needs to be respected out of fairness to everybody involved.
“But of course, we’re also trying to balance that with the desire to be open and to be transparent about the way our complaints processes work – and obviously in this case, there’s been lots of media speculation and lots of interest.
“So I think it’s really important that we’re as open and transparent as we can be about that process, which is why we’ve issued the statement.”
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