Former Olympic boxer turned wrestler Anthony Ogogo, 35, opened up on the “fishbowl of… emotion” he felt during his stint on the BBC reality series – despite having a major shoulder injury.
Strictly Come Dancing has been flooded with claims that their professional dancers had mistreated their celebrity partners during their time on the show – with Amanda Abbington being the one to open the gates and “stopping at nothing” to get it sorted.
Giovanni Pernice, Graziano Di Prima, Anton Du Beke, Janette Manrara, Ola Jordan and one unnamed female dancer have all been involved in the scandal in one way or another – with their former partners having issues with the way they were treated.
Ogogo is the latest former star to speak about his experience on the show, however, his issue was with the way Strictly bosses “hid” his shoulder injury and not with partner Oti Mabuse.
Speaking to Sky News, the 35-year-old recalled Strictly contestants being part of a “fishbowl of… emotion” and even “strong-willed” people like him were buckling “under that pressure”.
He took part in the show back in 2015, just three years after he bagged a bronze gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games – which came at a price as he was soon recovering from a shoulder injury and waiting to be able to fight again.
Anthony Ogogo only made it to week three of the competition
BBC
The wait ultimately led to his decision to say yes to taking part in the show, but despite being encouraged to join, production staff later suggested he leave when his injury worsened.
Ogogo and Mabuse were kicked from the competition in week three which he saw as “frustrating” and said: “It’s a funny one the Strictly experience. They got me on the show when I was injured. I’d just had shoulder surgery.
“It was weird, they really encouraged me to do it, said the shoulder wouldn’t be an issue, and then when I got on the show, the shoulder was the reason I left the show.
“When I did it, they were like ‘Oh your shoulder’s bad, maybe it’s time to go home’, that’s the impression I got. It was frustrating. It could’ve been amazing.”
Tim Davie issued a response regarding the ongoing allegations
BBC
He added that he was at odds with Strictly staff over the scars on his shoulder – following an infection caught after surgery – and wanted them to be seen, leaving executives to have a different opinion.
Ogogo said: “I wanted the scar to show how much pain I was going through but they covered it up and they made a point one day saying ‘we don’t want it on TV’.
“I said ‘I want to show the public to know how much pain I’m going through’ and they made a comment, they were like just ‘cover the scars’. They made it clear I had to cover the scars.”
Today, BBC director-general Tim Davie issued an urgent apology in response to the allegations against Strictly and told members of the press: “I’m very sorry that anyone has had an experience on Strictly that hasn’t been wholly positive.
Amanda Abbington kicked off the initial investigations and is said she will “stop at nothing” to resolve the issues
BBC
“I think that is something that we do reflect on, and I’m sorry about that. I think that there are clearly learnings, specifically, with regard to oversight in the training rooms that we have needed to address.
“And with the benefit of hindsight, you always look at these things and say, ‘Could we have done more?’ Of course, you could. But the key here is you address the situation. And as I say, I won’t go into repetition.
“But the measures we’ve taken, I believe, are an appropriate and fair response to what we know now in terms of making sure that (in) the training rooms, we have the right oversight, and that people have a positive experience coming through the show.
“I do believe overall, the hundreds of people have come through this show and had a positive experience. It is not right to characterise it that we haven’t had a 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, we act fairly and proportionately, and address it.”