Strictly staff ‘warned about working with male dancer’ who ‘spoke to women in a disgusting way’
STRICTLY staff have come forward and “warned about working with male dancers” – saying they “spoke to women in a disgusting way”.
It comes in the wake of pro dancer Graziano di Prima being sacked for abusing partner Zara McDermott.
Colleague Giovanni Pernice is also being investigated following similar complaints from his partner Amanda Abbington.
The BBC have now spoken to 15 current and former runners, who have painted a similar picture of the toxic environment on the show.
Anika, who was a runner in the earlier runs of the show, joined the show to get work experience.
Her excitement over landing the job quickly turned to fear after witnessing how a former professional dancer treated the staff.
“There was a lot of shouting backstage,” she told BBC News.
She said one of the male dancers, who has since left the show, treated people “in an insane way.
“The way he spoke to women, including female dancers and junior staff, was disgusting and chauvinistic. We’d be warned about working with him”.
She also said she didn’t feel she could raise issues.
“I was a nobody, a little runner, I didn’t think I could complain,” she added.
While another runner on the show told the broadcaster he was called “stupid” for asking for a handover, and was screamed at by a celebrity, who got so close to his face he could feel his spit.
Speaking of his experiences on the show, the runner, named as Oscar, said: “Producers would be drinking and partying, while everyone else was running around stressed out.”
He added: “It was bullying behaviour, I felt sick, and couldn’t sleep or eat.”
He said one of the celebrity contestants had made him feel “awful and helpless”, despite later apologising.
Oscar said: “He was shouting and he was so close up in my face, I had to close my eyes as his spit flecks were hitting me.
“The fact it was in front of everyone made me feel awful and helpless. People were stopping in the corridor to catch a glimpse of what was happening.”
He left the show shortly after, describing it as the “final straw”.
In response to the allegations, BBC Studios told BBC News it was “sorry” if Oscar did not feel able to speak up about his experiences.
A former package editor on the show’s It Takes Two spin-off, named by BBC News as Jane, said fellow crew members experienced “verbal abuse”.
She said: “When you’re in the edit suite, you’re like a therapist.
“Crew would come in and tell me about their experiences as we cut their video tapes.”
Jane said junior crew members faced “shouting, screaming and being insulted, to an extraordinary level”.
She added: “Whatever mood the dancers were in would dictate how your day would go.”
BBC Studios said Jane’s comments were based on “rumour”, which is said was “not unusual in the industry, particularly around successful long-running shows”.
A statement from BBC Studios to BBC News said: “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.”
A BBC Studios spokesperson apologised if anyone didn’t feel able to raise their experiences at the time and added: “The welfare and safety of our crew on each series has always been, and remains, our utmost priority.”
It comes ahead of the new series of Strictly which kicks off in just a matter of weeks.
Judges Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke, Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse are returning, with Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly at the helm.
The Sun on Sunday revealed Strictly bosses had signed up blind comedian Chris McCausland last month.
He will be joined by EastEnders Jamie Borthwick, DIY SOS star Nick Knowles, ex Towie’s Pete Wicks, Love Island’s Tasha Ghouri and Olympic GB swimmer Tom Dean.
Footie favourite Paul Merson, singer and movie star Toyah Wilcox, Team GB‘s hockey player Sam Quek, X Factor and Corrie legend Shayne Ward and JLS star GB Gill are taking to the dancefloor.
Welsh opera singer Wynne Evans is also in the line-up, along with TV doctor Punam Krishan, Gladiators star Montell Douglas and actress Sarah Hadland.
Strictly's full scandal so far
Strictly Come Dancing's scandal has been growing over the past few months, with several major players speaking out about what went on. Here are the key moments of what's happened so far
16th May: Giovanni Pernice sensationally quits Strictly Come Dancing after nine years on the show.
17th May: Giovanni becomes the centre of an official investigation after three former partners – believed to be Amanda Abbington, Laura Whitmore and Ranvir Singh – make complaints to the BBC.
16th June: Giovanni releases an official statement vowing to clear his name and denies any wrongdoing.
8th July: Strictly confirms Aljaz Skorjanec will return to the series, replacing Giovanni, after initially quitting the show two years ago.
10th July: Amanda Abbington launches fresh legal proceedings to get the rehearsal footage from her time with Giovanni, after allegedly he refused to release the videos.
13th July: Graziano Di Prima is axed from Strictly for “gross misconduct” after footage of his treatment of Zara McDermott is brought to the attention of the BBC.
Graziano quickly broke his silence, apologising for his behaviour in a statement and saying he “deeply regrets it”, adding his “intense passion and determination to win might have affected his training regime.”
15th July: Strictly bosses implement new duty of care protocols, including having a chaperone present throughout all rehearsals.
16th July: Zara McDermott speaks out publicly for first time. She states while the production team were “amazing to work with”, she found the rehearsal room “completely different”, confirming there’s footage of “certain situations”.
19th July: Anton Du Beke is put under the spotlight for his “1970s attitude” and treatment of female celeb stars, particularly after allegedly referring to 2009 partner Laila Rouass as a “p***” after getting a spray tan.
21st July: Paralympian Will Bayley, who has limb condition arthrogryposis, revealed he was encouraged to leap from a table during a dance routine, despite fears. The stunt caused an injury that forced him to withdraw from the show.
22nd July: MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace admits he broke down in tears and got a nasty stress rash on his face during his time on Strictly in 2014.
22nd July: Despite ongoing issues, the Strictly professional cast begin rehearsals for this year’s series.
23rd July: Celebrity agent Melanie Blake claims she was sexually assaulted by an unnamed pro dancer while backstage on the show, and claims she witnessed ageism, rudeness and a rough treatment to the point of injury.
23rd July: Strictly is forced to beef up security after ‘an intruder scales the wall of the rehearsal studio’.
23rd July: BBC boss Tim Davie breaks his silence on the ongoing allegations against Strictly, saying he is ‘deeply sorry’, adding: “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.”
24th July: Strictly 2023 star Krishnan Guru-Murthy holds a bombshell interview with Amanda Abbington on Channel 4 news, where she claims she was bullied, with some of the ‘humilation being of a sexual nature’.
27th July: Laura Whitmore releases a statement regarding her Strictly experience, saying “I thought my experience was specific to me but I’ve since learned I was wrong”.
She adds she is not part of the official complaint, but has come forward to support Amanda with the BBC, alongside others.
28th July: Laila Rouass speaks out against the accusations regarding Anton Du Beke, saying she “never felt pressured” by him and “personally insisted on six to seven hours training a day”.