Amanda Abbington claims BBC 'blocked' evidence of misconduct at 'Strictly'

Amanda Abbington, who filed a case against Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer Giovanni Pernice over his professional conduct, has now called out BBC for not taking her concerns seriously.

In an interview with Channel 4 News, the Sherlock star criticised the channel for not taking proper action against Pernice over her complaint and for blocking major evidence.

"There’s 50 hours of footage that’s being blocked," she revealed during the interview on Wednesday, July 24. "50 hours is a lot of footage and a lot of time spent in a room that was toxic."

The actress, 50, explained that in her first week on the show, which is known as Dancing with the Stars in the U.S., she complained to the producers about Pernice.

According to Abbington, BBC Studios installed camera to record the two dancers' rehearsals in order to "make an assessment" of Pernice’s reported behaviour on a weekly basis.

"Every Friday after that for the next five weeks, I would get the producers saying: ‘We’ve just watched the footage back, we are shocked and horrified, we are so sorry,'"she told the interviewer.

Additionally, Abbington has engaged Carter Ruck, a London law firm, to secure compensation from the BBC for loss of earnings and emotional trauma.