Amanda Abbington has revealed the moment she text BBC bosses saying 'I don't understand what I'm doing wrong', after feeling as though her partner Giovanni Pernice 'hated her' due to their dealings in the training room. The actress said she was subjected to "inappropriate, mean, nasty bullying" in a "toxic environment" while rehearsing for Strictly Come Dancing . Her former professional partner, Giovanni Pernice, has strongly refuted her allegations.
The Sherlock star said she "couldn't stay silent" on what she claims happened to her, adding: "I felt I had to speak up because I don't want people to be frightened of speaking out if they're being bullied or they feel they're in a difficult situation, or if they feel that they're not being heard." She told ITV's Lorraine: "I do feel I have the right to say it was a toxic environment I was in when I was rehearsing, because it was." "It's important that women feel they are in a safe space where they can say 'This is inappropriate behaviour and it needs to be recognised'.
" She added: "It was inappropriate, it was mean, it was nasty, it was bullying, and I put up with it for five weeks." "It started very early on, and when it started to happen I shut down because I recognised those red flags. So I would shut down and it would be difficult to get in and that would just be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
" She said the issues began early on, saying: "It was week one, the third day. I've got texts to the producer on the third day saying 'Th.