Amanda Abbington has reached a settlement with the BBC over the bullying allegations she made about her time on Strictly Come Dancing. The Press Association understands the sum is five figures, paid by BBC Studios, with a contribution to her legal costs. Because the payer is the commercial arm, the money does not come from the licence fee. The agreement means the corporation avoids a court fight over a personal injury claim for loss of earnings and damages. No finding of liability is attached to a compromise of this kind. The payment is the end of the claim, not a verdict.
Abbington, who left the 2023 series early and cited personal reasons, later alleged inappropriate behaviour by her professional partner, Giovanni Pernice. A BBC review in 2024 upheld some of her complaints of verbal bullying and harassment. The corporation made no finding of physical aggression. Pernice rejected any claim of threatening or abusive behaviour and welcomed the parts of the review that did not go against him. He was absent from the Strictly professional line-up in 2024, danced on the Italian show Ballando con le Stelle, and won it. After the review, the BBC put a chaperone in the training room for rehearsals, present throughout.
What the review already decided
The settlement sits on top of findings that are already public. The review did not accept every complaint. It did accept that verbal bullying and harassment had occurred in the complaints it upheld. That distinction mattered in 2024 and it matters this morning, because a payment can be mistaken for a new judgement. It is not one. Abbington said in October 2024 that she had not ruled out legal action. The claim that followed was civil, aimed at loss of earnings and at the effect on her, and it has now been compromised. People who wanted a trial will not get one. People who wanted the licence fee kept out of it have the BBC's account that Studios is paying.
The Settlement
- Five-figure sum, plus a contribution to legal costs, paid by BBC Studios.
- The licence fee is not the source of the money.
- The 2024 review upheld some complaints of verbal bullying and harassment.
- There was no finding of physical aggression. Pernice denied threatening or abusive behaviour.
- Rehearsals now have a chaperone present throughout.
The series that is still on air
The 2026 series is in its second half, under new hosts, and it has just lost a couple in a dance-off that split the judges. Shirley Ballas sent Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu home on Sunday. Antonia spoke on It Takes Two on Monday about what the partnership had meant, including as the show's first all-female pairing of this run. That is a different argument from Abbington's, and it should stay different. Welfare rules written after 2024 are part of why a chaperone is in the room when this cast rehearses. They did not stop a public row about a result. They were not designed to.
Strictly remains the BBC's biggest entertainment property, and a settlement in the commercial studio is the sort of line producers hope will stay off the live show. It will not stay out of the papers. The same morning, a criminal court was sentencing Russell Brand. One case is a jury and a prison term. The other is a contract and a payment. Both are about how fame, a workplace and a complaint meet a legal system. Only one of them ended with a person in custody. Abbington's ends with a sum, a costs payment, and a training room that is no longer private.