TV presenter Laura Whitmore has said she felt “gaslit” by BBC bosses when she first raised concerns about her Strictly Come Dancing experience.
The former Love Island host was partnered with professional dancer Giovanni Pernice in 2016, and was the seventh celebrity eliminated from the BBC One show.
Fellow Strictly star Amanda Abbington said the behaviour of Pernice – who she was partnered with in 2023 – was “abusive, cruel and mean”. Pernice has rejected “any suggestion of abusive or threatening behaviour”.
Speaking to the Irish Post, Whitmore, from Dublin, said when she first raised concerns she was “gaslit to make it seem normalised”.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines gaslighting as the action of tricking or controlling someone by making them believe things that are not true.
Whitmore said: “It’s a shame that it has to come out in such a victim-shaming way, which it always does. And being the first person to speak up about anything is always hard.”
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‘Inappropriate behaviour’ during rehearsals
The 39-year-old said last month in a social media post that she was asked to speak to the BBC about allegations of “inappropriate behaviour”, along with six other people. She said at the time she thought her experience on the show “was specific to me, but I’ve since learned I was wrong”.
She added: “I am not looking for anything, just an acceptance that what happened to me in the rehearsal rooms during my time on BBC Strictly was wrong and that it won’t happen to anyone else again.”
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Abbington has claimed there are 50 hours of video footage – from cameras she alleges were installed in the rehearsal room after she raised concerns during her first week – which Pernice “doesn’t want anyone to see” but have been viewed by the BBC.
The results of an investigation, launched by the BBC in the wake of the allegations, have not yet been published, but the broadcaster has announced new methods to “strengthen welfare and support” on the show, including a chaperone who would be present during training room rehearsals “at all times”.