Amanda Abbington has alleged she was 'bullied' by her Strictly Come Dancing partner Giovanni Pernice, accusing the pro dancer of 'inappropriate' behaviour and creating a 'toxic' environment in the rehearsal room. Fresh from sitting down with her ex Strictly co-star Krishnan Guru-Murthy on Channel 4 News on Wednesday night, Amanda appeared as a guest on Lorraine hours later, sitting down to chat to guest presenter Christine Lampard. And, while the former Silk actress has a new play to promote, it was the ongoing controversy surrounding her time on Strictly, the show she quit mid-series, that became the big talking point.
Since her sudden exit from the last series , there have been plenty of rumours that Amanda was unhappy about the way she was treated by Giovanni and had demanded access to footage of their rehearsals. Going on the record about why she was left so unhappy with Giovanni, Amanda told Christine: "It was inappropriate, it was mean, it was nasty, it was bullying. I put up with it for five weeks, you know, five, six weeks.
It started very early on and when it started to happen, I would shut down because I would recognise those red flags and so, I would shut down, and then it would be difficult to get in. So, that would just be a self fulfilling prophecy.” READ MORE : Match of the Day's Gary Lineker to be 'replaced' by ex Newcastle star for top BBC job Get all the latest TV and showbiz news and gossip from Chronicle Live with our free newsletter Asked at what point .