Annabel Croft has opened up about the struggles her Strictly Come Dancing co-stars experienced on the show.
The former tennis player and TV presenter appeared on the series in 2023, crediting her time on the BBC dancing competition with helping her through her grief following the death of her husband Mel Coleman months earlier.
While Croft, who reached the semi-finals, enjoyed her time on the series, flourishing weekly with her professional partner Johannes Radebe, she has revealed there were others who found the challenges the series presented quite overwhelming.
She appeared on the same series as Sherlock star Amanda Abbington, who claimed she was subjected to a “toxic environment” and “inappropriate, mean, nasty bullying” behaviour during her time on the show.
Croft appeared at an event in London’s Barbican on Wednesday (5 February), where she reportedly addressed rehearsal room tensions, which became the centre of a scandal last year after allegations made about Giovanni Pernice by Amanda Abbington.
According to The Sun, she told the audience: “There is a lot of stress behind the scenes. You were rehearsing next door to various couples and would see doors being slammed and somebody running off down the road and lots of tears.”
The Independent has contacted the BBC for comment.
Italian pro Pernice was dropped from Strictly after his 2023 celebrity dance partner, Sherlock star Abbington, accused him of misconduct.
Pernice denied the allegations of abusive or threatening behaviour while the BBC upheld some, but not all, of the complaints made, and issued an apology to Abbington.
The review had no findings relating to physical aggression but upheld accusations of swearing and giving negative feedback.
Pernice did not appear on the 2024 series of the show, which was won by Chris McCausland, but appeared as a professional on the Italian version instead.
He steered his celeb partner – and now girlfriend – actor Bianca Guaccero to victory, but said he “would love to go back” to Strictly despite believing the BBC has “closed the book” on his return.
In July 2024, another Strictly pro dancer, Graziano Di Prima, was dropped from the show following claims made by staff who observed his behaviour towards dance partner Zara McDermott during the 2023 series.
Di Prima, who joined Strictly in 2018, said that he “deeply regret[s] the events that led to my departure from Strictly”.
He added that his “intense passion and determination to win might have affected [his] training regime” and acknowledged that “it’s only right for the sake of the show that [he] step[s] away”.
The BBC said they “would never comment on individual cases”, but stressed that they have “established robust duty of care procedures, and if issues are raised we will always take them seriously and act swiftly as appropriate”.
