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Former contestant Anthony Ogogo claimed his time on Strictly Come Dancing was “frustrating” and likened the stressful environment to a “pressure cooker” as the reality show battled a scandal over the treatment of participants.
Anthony Ogogo appeared in season 13 of the BBC series in 2015. The boxer, who had won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics, was eliminated in week three.
In an interview to Sky News, the former athlete claimed the show put participants in a “fishbowl of emotion” and even “strong-willed” people would struggle “under that pressure”.
Ogogo went on the show while recovering from a shoulder injury, which he said the production staff insisted would not be a problem. But once they realised the extent of his injury, Ogogo claimed that they asked him to leave.
“It is a funny one, the Strictly experience. They got me on the show when I was injured. I had 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,” he said.
“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.”
He said he had a disagreement with the staff about showing the scars on his shoulder. “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,’” he said.
“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.”
The BBC show ran into controversy after allegations of bullying and violence were made against two of its leading dancers, Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima.
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Di Prima earlier this month admitted to kicking his partner Zara McDermott and was dropped from the new season.
A few weeks earlier, Pernice was dropped after his former partner, Sherlock star Amanda Abbington, voiced concerns about his teaching style.
In response to the allegations, BBC director general Tim Davie offered a public apology.
“I’m very sorry that anyone has had an experience on Strictly that hasn’t been wholly positive, I think that is something we do reflect on, and I’m sorry about that,” he said.
