BBC Studios Responds To Claims Of 'Toxic' Culture Behind The Scenes Of Strictly Come Dancing

The production company behind Strictly Come Dancing has addressed claims made by a number of crew members about a supposed “toxic” culture behind the scenes of the long-running dance show.

Strictly is currently the subject of a BBC investigation following complaints made by a number of former contestants, including 2023 competitor Amanda Abbington.

With the reality show under the public microscope, BBC News published a report on Wednesday morning featuring accounts from former crew members, which alleges that the “whole culture was toxic, particularly for junior staff” on the show.

For their report, the outlet apparently spoke to 15 Strictly crew members from over the years, some of whom had positive memories of their time on the show, while others voiced concerns.

Among them was one account of someone who was screamed at by an anonymous male celebrity contestant, as well as voicing that they felt “bullied” by more senior members of the team.

Meanwhile, another alleged that a junior staff member was subjected to “verbal abuse” from the show’s resident dancers.

A BBC Studios spokesperson told HuffPost UK: “The welfare and safety of our crew on each series has always been, and remains, our utmost priority. We do not recognise these anonymous claims nor will hundreds of production personnel who have worked with us through multiple series and across the two decades the show has been on air. 

“Using our industry-leading initiative The Pledge on all our productions, including Strictly, we proactively encourage everyone on set to raise concerns of inappropriate behaviour via several avenues, including anonymously to an external third-party whistleblowing service independent of the BBC/BBC Studios.

“We act speedily when any issues are raised, and have thorough, effective, and longstanding processes to manage them and we’re sorry if anyone didn’t feel able to talk about their experience on-set at the time.”

HuffPost UK has also contacted representatives for Strictly Come Dancing for additional comment.

BBC Studios also pointed out that more than 35% of Strictly’s current production team have been with the show for more than five years, and that many of the show’s “producers, series editors, senior producers, producer/directors, production managers and assistant producers” began their careers as runners on Strictly and worked their way to more senior positions.

Last week, a report in The Observer alleged that former staff members faced “cruelty”, sexualised comments and a failure to take complaints seriously behind the scenes of Strictly.

A BBC Studios spokesperson said at the time: “The welfare of our crews working on each series of Strictly is always of paramount importance to us. We act speedily when any concerns are raised, and we have thorough, effective, and longstanding processes to manage them.

“The show is a fast-paced live TV production environment that has attracted hundreds of people in the industry to work on who have had a positive experience, so we do not recognise the claims relating to a negative workplace culture – or that there are flaws in our whistleblowing process.

“In 2022, we announced the introduction of our industry-leading initiative The Pledge on all our productions, including Strictly, which proactively encourages anyone on our sets to raise concerns of inappropriate behaviour via a number of avenues, including anonymously to Navex Global, an external whistleblowing service independent of the BBC and BBC Studios.”

Ahead of this year’s series of Strictly, new changes have been implemented, which are intended to “strengthen welfare and support” for both the professional dancers and celebrity contestants.

The BBC’s director general Tim Davie has also publicly apologised to any former Strictly stars who had an experience on the show that was not “wholly positive”.