‘I’m sorry’, says BBC boss as he breaks silence on Strictly scandal and warns ‘the line should never be crossed’
BBC boss Tim Davie has apologised over the alleged abusive behaviour on Strictly – and issued a stern warning to stars.
Breaking his silence on the scandal surrounding Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima, the Director General of the channel said: “The line should never be crossed”.
Admitting he was “disappointed” by the complaints, he added: “I’m very sorry that anyone has had an experience on Strictly that hasn’t been wholly positive.”
Davie was speaking on the BBC’s annual report day as he delivered a speech on the future of the corporation and revealed Gary Lineker and Zoe Ball remain the channel’s highest-earning stars.
“I do want to say something on Strictly, which is obviously in the headlines,” said Davie.
“Strictly is a wonderful show that brings a lot of joy to a lot of people and has done so for 20 years to both those involved with the show and to the millions of people at home.
“Hundreds of people, be they pros, contestants or crew have been part of it and had a brilliant experience.
“At the same time if someone thinks there was something wrong or they want to talk about their experience then of course we want them to raise that with us. Be in no doubt we will take it seriously, listen and deal with it as appropriate.
“And while I’m not going to talk about individuals, you can see evidence of that in recent weeks.
“So I hope that anyone who does want to talk to us feels that they can.”
Drastic measures to safeguard contestants were announced last week after professional dancer Graziano was sacked over claims he hit, spat and kicked his celebrity dance partner Zara McDermott.
It followed Giovanni‘s exit amid an investigation into allegations of misconduct made by Amanda Abbington.
Executives rushed to toughen up its duty of care rules, which includes introducing chaperones into the training rooms.
BBC chiefs are even considering a cull of long-serving dancers as rehearsals begin for the new series.
Davie continued: “It is vital that we have the right protocols and structures in place for the show.
“We keep these under review and as you know we confirmed changes to these last week.
“It is essential these are right for everyone. Of course, alongside the fun and entertainment there will be a degree of competitiveness, hard work and a will to do well.
“That’s part of what makes this show – but there are limits and the line should never be crossed.
Rumoured Strictly 2024 line-up so far...
Chris McCausland – Comedian, 47
GK Barry – YouTube star, 24
Dave Fishwick – Businessman and TV star, 53
Martin Roberts – TV presenter, 60
Danny Cipriani – Rugby ace, 36
Roman Kemp – TV and radio presenter, 31
Hannah Waddingham – Actress, 49
Helen Worth – Actress, 73
“We will never tolerate unacceptable behaviour of any kind.”
Pushed on why stricter protocols weren’t implemented sooner, Davie replied: “I think that is something we do reflect on and I’m sorry about that.
“I think that there are clearly learnings regarding oversights in the training rooms that we have needed to address.”
“With the benefit of hindsight, you always look at these things and think we could have done more, of course you could, but the key thing here is you address the situation.
“The measures we’ve taken, I believe, are an appropriate and fair response to what we know now in terms of making sure that the training rooms we have the right oversight and that people have a positive experience coming through the show.
“I do believe overall that hundreds of people have come through the show and had a positive experience, it’s not right to characterise it that we haven’t had significant duty of care provision in the show
“Having said that there’s clearly some learning here and I think the team have acted to address that.
“If we get any fresh information of course we act fairly, proportionately and address it.”
Looking ahead to the future of the show, Davie said: “We do have a brilliant line-up for this year who I’m sure are itching to get going and you will hear more about this in the coming weeks.”
Quizzed on how the scandal will affect the next series, he added: “I think I am assured by the robust actions that we have taken in terms of the changes we have made that we are in a position to deliver a very good season this year and that’s been my focus.
“I think it has always been about how do we make sure that we deliver a flawless show that is fun, entertaining but also appropriating supports everyone involved
“And with that reassurance, absolutely, I’m looking forward to the next season.”
As well as having a production team member present during training room rehearsals “at all times”, there are now also plans to “increase existing support with the addition of two new roles on the show dedicated to welfare support – a Celebrity Welfare Producer and a Professional Dancer Welfare Producer.”
In addition to this the BBC said they would be delivering training for all the production team and crew working on the show in a bid to stop a repeat of allegations which have come to light in recent weeks.
Davie became the 17th Director-General of the BBC in 2020 when he took over from Tony Hall.