Last year Strictly Come Dancing was thrown into a world of chaos after Amanda Abbington sensationally made allegations of bullying against her Strictly partner Giovanni Pernice. At the time Giovanni was forced to step down from his position amid an in-depth investigation conducted by the BBC.
And while the world looked on as Amanda and a number of former contestants revealed their own experience of alleged inappropriate behaviour by Giovanni, one person who stood by the Italian dancer’s side was Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood, 60.
Explaining his controversial decision during a recent interview, he said: “I am still friends with Giovanni. One complaint against him was that he trod on a toe. “
He added: “Well, I’m sorry but that is going to happen. In dance training I’ve dropped girls and broken their ribs accidentally. I’ve broken fingers doing lifts.”
At the time, Amanda, who is best known for her role in Sherlock, was given an apology by the broadcaster while Giovanni was cleared of allegations of physical aggression.
Speaking to The I Paper, the Strictly judge went on to add that he is a firm believer of complaining if a celebrity felt abused during rehearsals, but he feels as though training a complete novice, ballroom dancing, comes with it’s own challenges.
He claimed that celebrities have to be made aware that “they are being challenged to do something they have not been trained to do.”
He went on to say: “Every contestant has to be taught in a different way depending on the mental state they’re in at the time. The professional dancers are not psychologists. They can’t always work out what is going on.”
“Everybody is different, but sometimes it takes an argument for somebody to do it right. Then you say: ‘Now we’re got fire! Now we’ve got passion! Hold that tension in your muscles! Now we can tango, darling!,” he explained
By October last year, new policies had been set in place to ensure further allegations of abuse of power will not happen again.
At the time, BBC Chair Samir Shah stated: “I cannot emphasise enough that I am fully committed to tackling inappropriate or abusive behaviour. For most of us it is a joy to work for the BBC and that should be the case for everyone.”
Samir added: “Nobody working in the BBC should ever feel fear or worry while working here. What is clear to me is that we must ensure the BBC is a safe, secure and welcoming workplace for everyone.”
On the back of Zara McDermott’s admission that her partner Graziano Di Prima had kicked her in rehearsals, the BBC decided to include a member of the Strictly production in all rehearsals.
There is also an inclusion of welfare producers as part of a string of measures set in place to eradicate a “toxic” environment.
Craig, who is better known as Mr Nasty, is set to embark on his nationwide tour titled Revelations and claims he will finally be in the vulnerable position as celebrities on the BBC show.
He confessed: “After being bruised and battered, I’m not afraid to come out and be seen for who I really am.”
Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.
At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the “Do Not Sell or Share my Data” button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Cookie Notice.
