The future of BBC’s hit show Strictly Come Dancing has been questioned following a series of allegations made against four of their professional dancers.
Former cast members Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima were axed from the show in recent weeks after their ex-celebrity partners, Amanda Abbington and Zara McDermott came forward with their claims.
In the latest development of the Strictly scandal, dancer-turned-judge Anton Du Beke is now facing possible a legal battle over historic allegations from 2009, when he was paired with TV star Laila Rouass.
The Strictly judge is alleged to have said Rouass looked like “a P*ki” after having a spray tan for the show. He later apologised for the inappropriate jibe.
Anton Du Beke has been accused of using a ‘racial slur’ towards Laila Rouass in 2009, which he apologised for at the time
PA / BBC
Detailing the ongoing issues with the BBC and its 20-year-old show, showbiz reporter Stephanie Takyi told GB News: “It’s been a Strictly witch hunt all week long.
“There’s been a lot of allegations against some of the dancers, that they’ve been physically and verbally abusing their dance partners. The latest to be named is Anton Du Beke.”
Discussing the possible legal complaint which may be made by Rouass, Takyi added: “At the moment, we have a law firm called Carter and Ruck who are building up cases with past contestants, and they’ve reached out to Laila to see whether potentially she would like to bring a case against Anton and the BBC.
“The problem with this now is we’re going back to 2009. Anton is now a judge and the public were none the wiser about this historic case.”
Anton Du Beke was paired with TV star Laila Rouass on Strictly in 2009
PA / BBC
Noting Du Beke’s position on the show as a judge, Takyi claimed there are now “calls for him to be sacked” from the show by the BBC.
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Discussing Du Beke’s character both on and off screen, Takyi told host Dawn Neesom: “Most people know, Anton is a very lovable man.
“But what happens when you bring these kind of criticisms out into the public sphere, especially in this day and age ahead of the new 20th season, people are going to be thinking, well, do we keep Anton as a judge?”
Outlining the other allegations made against professionals Pernice and Di Prima, Takyi said the cases are “causing ones like Anton’s to come to the surface”.
Takyi explained: “It’s a shame, because they had already rectified that situation. But because we’re in the midst of this Strictly storm at the moment, a lot of historic cases are coming up, like with Graziano and Zara McDermott, which actually happened nine months ago.
“The BBC have been sitting on this case for a long time, but solely because of what’s happened with Giovanni Pernice and Amanda Abbington, all of these cases are coming up.”
Stephanie Takyi questioned the future of the show following the numerous allegations
GB News
Sharing the latest from the BBC amid the ongoing scandal, Takyi told Dawn that the broadcaster plans to place “chaperones” with the dance couples in training, to ensure appropriate behaviour is taking place.
Takyi said: “These celebrities get paid a lot of money, and we expect a show from them. We know they’re novices, but the whole point of them training with these dancers is so that they can look like they’re professionals.
“We only see two minutes of them training, but they spend up to 12 hours a day there. A lot of these dancers have gone through strict training themselves, so they’re just kind of imparting that knowledge. But that’s why the BBC have now decided that they’re going to have chaperones and producers who will be sitting in in the training session.”
In a statement, the BBC has said: “The BBC is announcing additional steps to strengthen welfare and support on Strictly Come Dancing.
“Concerns that have arisen in recent months have been fundamentally about training and rehearsals. The actions we announced today are designed to address that.”