‘Strictly Come Dancing’s Dark Heart Exposed: How Hyper Competitiveness Seeped Into A British TV Icon & Sparked An Abuse Scandal

Strictly Come Dancing enjoys a unique status on British television. The beloved BBC show has been woven into the fabric of the nation for 20 years, with a peerless record in gathering families on the sofa and delivering a sequin-embroidered burst of light and energy as nights draw in for winter. It consistently ranks among the UK’s highest-rated shows, has forged national treasures of its stars, and spawned 60 international imitations, not least ABC’s Dancing With The Stars. The other remarkable thing about Strictly is that it boasts a virtually unblemished record when it comes to scandal. Put simply, it has always been the BBC’s golden child. Until now.

The show has been the subject of simmering bullying and misconduct concerns for months, and the allegations finally hit boiling point this week, prompting the BBC to fire a professional dancer and make tweaks to Strictly’s production regime. The unrest can be traced back to October 2023 when Amanda Abbington, an actress best known for her work as Mary Watson in BBC drama Sherlock, abruptly quit Season 21 citing “personal reasons.” On a show famous for celebrities and their dance partners falling in love, Abbington apparently fell in loath with her pairing, Giovanni Pernice. 

She has since engaged Carter Ruck, the aggressive London law firm, to pursue a complaint with the BBC about Pernice. The precise nature of her allegations is unclear, but she has called the 33-year-old Italian “nasty” and accused him of inappropriate, bullying behavior during her five weeks on Strictly. Pernice strongly denies wrongdoing and says he is cooperating with a BBC investigation. He has been benched for Season 22.

Abbington was not the only woman with concerns about Season 21. In an unexcepted development this week, Strictly professional dancer Graziano Di Prima, another Italian, was fired after the BBC was handed rehearsal video evidence of him kicking partner Zara McDermott, the Love Island star. The dancer does not recall the specific incident but acknowledges it happened and has apologized. 

Giovanni Pernice and Amanda Abbington

BBC

The BBC moved quickly to boost welfare resources on Strictly, but with British newspapers pursuing the story with vigor, it is unlikely to be the end of the revelations. A third professional is reportedly in the frame, other women are said to have concerns (presenters Laura Whitmore and Ranvir Singh reportedly have misgivings about Pernice), old footage is being picked over, and former contestants are reflecting on their experiences, both good and bad. Richard Coles, a celebrity priest who competed in the 2017 season, described Strictly as “a wonderful show with a dark heart.” 

For those involved in Strictly’s creation, the misconduct scandal is symbolic of mission creep from the show’s original vision. Industry sources have also questioned if it is plausible that senior BBC executives, including content chief Charlotte Moore, were unaware of abuse allegations on the entertainment series. There is a feeling that the scandal is serious for Strictly, but not existential — particularly in a year when the show is celebrating its 20th birthday and remains so well-loved by British audiences.

The BBC declined to comment beyond recent statements. It has pledged to examine any concerns with “care, fairness and sensitivity” and says it takes duty of care extremely seriously. “Our processes on the show are updated every year, and we will continue to keep this under constant review,” it said this week.

Hyper-Competitive

Jane Lush, the former BBC entertainment boss who greenlit Strictly in 2004, tells Deadline that the cutthroat nature of professional dancing has “seeped in through the backdoor” of the juggernaut. She acknowledges that early seasons were more competitive than the BBC originally envisioned, but that this spirit has been supercharged in the clamor for Strictly’s famous glitterball trophy. Lush adds that the joy in the show is seeing contestants like Ed Balls, a former government minister, embrace the experience and improve their skills, even if they do not become accomplished dancers.

“It’s changed,” agrees a senior producer, who was involved in Strictly’s early seasons but wishes to remain anonymous. “In the beginning, the production and the audience delighted in British-style amateurism. You look back on the first few seasons, the standard of dancing is good, but is lightyears away from where we’ve got to. The expectation is that amateurs will get to semi-pro status.”

Di Prima is perhaps a good example of translating his lived experience into exacting standards in rehearsals. Mark Borkowski, who is acting as a spokesperson for Di Prima, explains that his client comes from a “poor background” in rural Sicily and learned his trade during “tough” training at Team Diablo, a famous Bologna dance school. Borkowski says he is “not excusing” the dancer’s abuse of McDermott, but is attempting to bring context to the tutoring styles Strictly professionals consider normal.

Graziano Di Prima and Zara McDermott

There is a feeling in the Di Prima camp that more guidance from producers would have been welcome. “If they have got a hotheaded Sicilian temper, why aren’t they given better parameters?” adds a source familiar with processes on Strictly. Sue Ayton, an agent who has placed clients including Angela Rippon on Strictly, argues that the BBC could be more open with celebrities and the audience about the rigors of the contest. Ayton told Radio 4’s The Media Show that the BBC does not wish to puncture the Strictly “fantasy” that it is a joyful ride for all involved.

The BBC’s plan to introduce chaperones appears to be an admission that it should not have allowed couples to be alone for long periods. A recent contestant tells Deadline that the professionals design training regimes and that 30% or less of rehearsals are filmed by BBC Studios, the BBC’s commercial production unit. Choreographers would visit briefly during the week, but as long as a video of a dance was sent to Strictly producers by Wednesday, couples had plenty of freedom to perfect a routine. 

BBC Studios cameras did not record Di Prima kicking McDermott and the dancer did not film the incident, meaning that it was likely captured by McDermott herself. In a statement this week, McDermott said she finds the footage “incredibly distressing,” but praised the BBC’s handling of her complaint. It is not clear if she filmed their dance routines surreptitiously or if it was part of their training methods. An ex-contestant tells Deadline that self-filming was left to the discretion of couples.

Better supervision would be baked into the format if it were pitched today, says a former Strictly producer. “The world has changed a lot in 20 years,” they add. “I’m sure if they were going into production on Season 1 this autumn, they would have had chaperones in the room.” The source adds that this is particularly important for female celebrities, who are led by their male partners, opening up potentially problematic power dynamics. Welfare support on the 2023 season included access to counseling and talent producers.

While Lush is supportive of further improvements, she thinks chaperones could be an overcorrection. She worries that it could change the dynamic between dance partners and interfere with their chemistry. “Members of the team should pop in unannounced sporadically rather than having a full-time chaperone who I think would hinder the genuine good relationships,” says the former BAFTA chair.

Who Knew?

There are conflicting views on whether BBC executives would have been aware of the issues on Strictly. One top entertainment producer, who has worked with the BBC for decades, compares the broadcaster’s handling of misconduct concerns to the Post Office scandal, a miscarriage of justice that went unnoticed for years. “People know about these things, it’s what they choose to see that matters,” this person says. 

This theory has been supported by recently resurfaced clips from early seasons of Strictly featuring behavior that could be considered unacceptable by modern standards. Footage originally broadcast on Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two showed ex-pro James Jordan kicking a chair in anger and promising to push partner Georgina Bouzova “to her limit.” Jordan said this week that the clip was shot and edited for entertainment. A second clip shows Brendan Cole, another ex-pro, slapping his partner Fiona Phillips’ bum and being aggressive.

BBC director general Tim Davie

Getty

Another producer argues that abuse can often remain hidden until the victim is prepared to speak out. “Sadly, it is absolutely possible that the BBC would not have known,” this person argues, pointing to McDermott’s reticence to come forward. In her statement, she said: “I was scared about my future, I was scared of victim shaming.”

The BBC is likely to be questioned about Strictly next week when director general Tim Davie presents the corporation’s annual report. Kate Phillips, the BBC’s director of unscripted content, was at pains to point out this week that the “vast majority” of contestants have “positive experiences” on the show and where concerns are raised “we will always take that seriously and act.”

Strictly is a central plank of the BBC’s public service mission, but it is also a lucrative commercial asset for BBC Studios. The production arm is having conversations with producers outside of the UK to ensure the Strictly scandal does not leech into other territories. A BBC Studios spokesperson says “new measures being introduced in the UK” will contribute to an “ongoing dialogue” around international versions of the show.

Strictly will return to BBC1 in September, complete with presenting duo Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman. Lorraine Heggessey, the former controller of BBC1, predicts the series will recover: “Strictly can get over this. We should hang on to the positives, address the issue, and move on.” Ex-BBC entertainment chief Lush puts it like this: “Long live Strictly.”