Craig Revel Horwood, the judge on Strictly Come Dancing, has defended the show’s professional dancers following ‘feud’ accusations between Amanda Abbington and Giovanni Pernice.
According to reports, Sherlock actress Amanda, 51, is seeking legal counsel following her experience on the BBC One competition, which she departed after one month.
She cited ‘personal reasons’ for her resignation from Strictly, but later revealed that she sought video recordings of her rehearsals and was diagnosed with minor PTSD following the show.
Following her departure, Amanda’snubbed’ Giovanni, 33, while his former dance partners and co-stars have rallied around him.
Craig appears to have supported the event’s dancers, referring to them as the ‘backbone of the performance’.
He continued to The Sun: ‘The pros not only have to be creative and be able to be good choreographers, they also have to be psychiatrists, doctors, they have to be nurses, they have to be welfare guidance people.
‘It’s not just teaching dance.’
Shirley Ballas appeared to make a joke at Amanda during her appearance on Lorraine earlier this week.
She spoke about her interactions with Giovanni, as well as how famous faces knew how difficult the programme was when signing up, saying: ‘I’ve known Giovanni for many, many years and he is an absolutely splendid teacher and my experiences with him have only ever is that he is an absolute gentleman.’
‘He serves the show well and he gives 100%.’
After broadcaster Lorraine Kelly stated that’sometimes pairings just don’t work.’ Shirley went on to say, “This is a tough show, so when people sign up, they know what they’re getting into.” It’s been on the screen for around 20 years, so doing the show is tricky.
This follows reports that the BBC has not undertaken any inquiries regarding Giovanni’s behaviour on Strictly.
A source had earlier alleged that Amanda was ‘really stressed by having to spend eight hours a day with Giovanni’ and ‘spent a lot of time crying’ and further claimed it has ‘taken her months to get over what she went through’.
However, another source close to Giovanni claimed that he found’some of these charges profoundly unjust and hurtful.’
Last year, the BBC reportedly met with Giovanni to discuss his actions. However, no action was taken, and that it has opted not to begin an inquiry.
Strictly Come Dancing is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
