Amanda Abbington reveals ex Martin Freeman supported her through Giovanni Pernice Strictly’s ordeal and branded her ‘horrible’

May 16: Giovanni Pernice sensationally leaves Strictly Come Dancing after nine years on the show.

May 17th: Giovanni becomes the focus of an official investigation after three former partners – believed to be Amanda Abbington, Laura Whitmore and Ranvir Singh – made complaints to the BBC.

June 16: Giovanni releases an official statement promising to clear his name and denies any wrongdoing.

July 8th: Strictly confirms that Aljaz Skorjanec will be returning to the series, replacing Giovanni after initially leaving the show two years ago.

July 10: Amanda Abbington is launching a new court case to obtain rehearsal footage of her time with Giovanni after he allegedly refused to release the videos.

July 13th: Graziano Di Prima has been banned from Strictly for “gross misconduct” after footage of his treatment of Zara McDermott was brought to the attention of the BBC.

Graziano quickly broke his silence, apologizing in a statement for his behavior and saying he deeply regretted it, adding that his “intense passion and determination to win may have affected his training program.”

July 15: Supervisors are strictly implementing new due diligence protocols, including the presence of a chaperone during all rehearsals.

July 16: Zara McDermott speaks publicly for the first time. She states that while working with the production team was “fantastic”, she found the rehearsal room “totally different” and confirmed that there were recordings of “certain situations”.

July 19: Anton Du Beke is under the spotlight for his “1970s attitude” and his treatment of female celebrity stars, particularly after he allegedly called his 2009 partner Laila Rouass a “p***” after she got a tan.

July 21st: Paralympian Will Bayley, who suffers from the limb disorder arthrogryposis, revealed he was encouraged to jump off a table during a dance routine despite his fears. The stunt caused an injury that forced him to withdraw from the show.

July 22nd: MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace admits he burst into tears and developed a nasty stress rash on his face during his time on Strictly in 2014.

July 22nd: Despite ongoing problems, the Strictly Professional cast begin rehearsals for this year’s series.

July 23rd: Celebrity agent Melanie Blake claims she was sexually assaulted by an unnamed professional dancer backstage at the show and witnessed ageism, rudeness and rough treatment to the point of injury.

July 23rd: Strictly is forced to increase security after “an intruder scaled the wall of the rehearsal room”.

July 23rd: BBC boss Tim Davie breaks his silence on the ongoing allegations against Strictly, saying he is “deeply sorry” and adding: “Hundreds of people, be they professionals, contestants or crew, were there and had a brilliant experience.”

“At the same time, if someone thinks something is wrong or wants to talk about their experiences, we obviously want them to bring it up with us. Rest assured, we will take the matter seriously, listen and deal with it appropriately.” “

July 24th: Strictly 2023 star Krishnan Guru-Murthy conducts bombshell interview with Amanda Abbington on Channel 4 News in which she claims she was bullied, with some of the “humiliation of a sexual nature”.

July 27th: Laura Whitmore releases a statement about her Strictly experience, saying: “I thought my experience was specific to me, but I have since learned I was wrong.”

She adds that she was not part of the official complaint but, alongside others, came forward to support Amanda at the BBC.

July 28th: Laila Rouass speaks out against the allegations against Anton Du Beke, saying she “never felt pressured” by him and “personally insisted on training six to seven hours a day.”

August 10th: Graziano breaks his silence on his Strictly ax, saying: “These vile, false allegations have ruined my life.”

He also opened up about the “shocking” end of his friendship with Zara McDermott.

We also revealed that Amanda Abbington was also interviewed a second time as Strictly execs recruited 15 new staff to oversee rehearsals.

August 11th: Just as the investigation was expected to be complete, Amanda intervened dramatically. Giovanni was close to being released until Amanda submitted more text messages.

August 24th: Graziano Di Prima has brought in top lawyers to sue the BBC and try to clear his name. He recruited the great batsman Whitestone Chambers to fight his corner.

A source said: “They have also looked at his BBC contract and believe there are grounds for legal action.”

Meanwhile, the BBC also delayed publishing the results of the investigation into Giovanni Pernice. The Sun revealed that the results of the three-month investigation are unlikely to be announced in August.