Former Love Island presenter is the latest to open up about her treatment on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing with Giovanni (Image: BAFTA via Getty Images)Get daily celeb exclusives and behind the scenes house tours direct to your inboxMore Newsletters SubscribePlease enter a valid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later.More NewslettersWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More infoThank you for subscribing!We have more newslettersShow me See OurPrivacy Notice See OurPrivacy Notice×Group 28 Get daily celeb exclusives and behind the scenes house tours direct to your inboxInvalid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later.Sign UpNo thanks, closeWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info×Group 28Thank you for subscribing!We have more newslettersShow MeNo thanks, closeSee our
Privacy Notice TV star Laura Whitmore has opened up about her experience on Strictly Come Dancing with partner Giovanni Pernice, saying she’s provided ‘evidence’ to the BBC. Laura, 39, has candidly shared details of her time on the dance competition back in 2016. Joining the chorus of voices like Amanda Abbington and Zara McDermott, Laura has expressed criticism towards the culture at the BBC show. Back in 2016, Laura danced with Giovanni Pernice and was the seventh contestant to leave the series. Reflecting on her journey in a HuffPost article two years later, she disclosed, “I was placed with a dance partner I was extremely uncomfortable with and in the end I felt broken. I cried every day.”
Laura was partnered with Giovanni on the dance show in 2016
(Image: PA)
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“And I really was broken, both mentally and physically, by the end. To the outside world I tried to suck it up and smile, and I did that to the best of my ability, but it affected me deeply. My friends and family knew that I was struggling. And they were there for me. The media, however, saw me as blond bait in a sequinned dress.” Amanda, who danced with Giovanni in the previous year, has accused him of “threatening and abusive” behaviour which led to her departure from the show for “personal reasons”. Giovanni strongly denies any wrongdoing. Now, in an interview with The Irish Post, Laura said that she felt “gaslit” by the BBC “to make it seem normalised.”
Laura said she feels “gaslit” from the BBC after she tried to come out with these claims years ago
(Image: Supplied by WENN)
Laura spoke about her experiences on the show, which she initially raised concerns about back in 2016. In the interview she said: “The stuff I’m not going to talk to you about now, because it’s under review, that’s all coming out now, the stuff I tried to speak about eight years ago. 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.” OK! has approached the BBC for comment. Taking to her Instagram, recently, she posted: “I was trying not to comment on recent press speculation until the BBC review is complete but feel there is a lot of misinformation in the press and I want to help and show support by setting the record straight.”
Zara opened up about her treatment in rehersals with Graziano
(Image: BBC/Ray Burmiston)
Amanda Abbington says Strictly producers were ‘horrified’ by Giovanni footage and reveals BBC’s response to complaint
(Image: PA)
Laura revealed that she was asked to speak to the BBC along with six other people, who wish to remain anonymous, about inappropriate behaviour they experienced similar to hers with the same individual. She said: “I thought my experience was specific to me but I’ve since learned I was wrong. The aim of this is to show a pattern of behaviour that I believe needs to stop.” She concluded by saying that sharing her experiences on the show, during which she suffered an ankle injury, is intended to “support other people’s evidence”.Story SavedYou can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnGiovanni PerniceLaura WhitmoreZara McdermottStrictly Come Dancing
