Strictly Come dancing failed to address its recent scandals as it returned to British TV screens on Saturday for its 20th anniversary series.
The BBC show’s milestone year has been marred by scandal – after actress Amanda Abbington unexpectedly quit the show last October before claiming her partner Giovanni Pernice was abusive towards her.
The show was then hit with a fresh wave of scandal when Graziano Di Prima was sacked in July for ‘kicking’ his partner, Love Island star Zara McDermott.
However the BBC dodged the controversy during its launch episode of the new series on Saturday.
Hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly excitedly introduced this year’s celebrities and announced which dancers they would be paired with – but the controversies of the last year went unmentioned.
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Strictly Come dancing failed to address its recent scandals as it returned to British TV screens on Saturday for its 20th anniversary series
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The show was hit with a fresh wave of scandal when Graziano Di Prima was sacked in July for ‘kicking’ his partner, Love Island star Zara McDermott
The 20th anniversary series of Strictly has been somewhat tainted after the BBC show was embroiled in scandal when Sherlock actress Amanda made a series of accusations about Giovanni’s teaching methods and described his behaviour as ‘unnecessary, abusive, cruel and mean’.
Giovanni, 33, was suspended while a BBC probe is underway over allegations made by Amanda and two other former celebrity partners.
He has vehemently denied the claims.
With the report into his misconduct due any day now, Amanda has reportedly been left deeply disappointed with the BBC bosses over fears they’re ‘protecting’ the dancer amid the bullying probe.
There have been high-level meetings among BBC bosses as they navigate how to deliver their findings as they fear the looming possibility of legal action from either Amanda or Giovanni if either is disappointed by the outcome.
After Giovanni, the show was hit with a fresh wave of scandal when Graziano Di Prima was sacked.
His former celebrity partner Zara explained that she didn’t report the incidents at the time as she was ‘scared’ of backlash.
Instead it was junior production staff who came forward to share what they had witnessed as the investigation into pro dancer Giovanni was taking place.
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Hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly excitedly introduced this year’s celebrities and announced which dancers they would be paired with – but the controversies of the last year went unmentioned
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The BBC dodged the controversy during its launch episode of the new series on Saturday
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Giovanni, 33, was suspended while a BBC probe is underway over allegations made by Amanda and two other former celebrity partners. He has vehemently denied the claims
Zara told her followers that while much of her time on Strictly ‘was everything I could have dreamt of’ inside the training room with Graziano there were ‘particular incidents which are incredibly distressing’.
Over the summer Strictly has struggled to stay out the headlines as more and more alumni of the show have come forward to share their stories.
Steve Backshall complained to the BBC about his professional partner on Strictly Come Dancing Ola Jordan back in 2014 claiming she ‘bullied’ him.
Meanwhile Ola’s husband James was left furious when he hit back after unearthed footage emerged of him telling his partner Georgina Bouzova he would ‘drag her across the floor and scream at her’ if she forgot her moves.
The ballroom dancer and choreographer, 46, slammed the BBC after the clip began doing the rounds again following the recent Giovanni and Graziano scandals – saying most of the footage ‘was not related to Georgina at all’.
Professional dancer Nadiya Bychkova also met with BBC bosses to complain about the show in July.
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After Giovanni, the show was hit with a fresh wave of scandal when Graziano Di Prima was sacked in July for ‘kicking’ his partner Love Island star Zara McDermott
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Zara told her followers that while much of her time on Strictly ‘was everything I could have dreamt of’ inside the training room with Graziano there were ‘particular incidents which are incredibly distressing’
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Professional dancer Nadiya Bychkova also met with BBC bosses to complain about the show in July
The Mail revealed that the Ukrainian beauty made contact with chiefs at the Corporation and was then swiftly invited in for a face-to-face meeting to discuss her concerns.
She was said to be ‘upset’ about certain matters relating to the Saturday night dance show and was keen to raise them with the BBC
With the cloud of controversy hanging over the show the toxicity that engulfed the once-loved Saturday night juggernaut was now acting as a serious deterrent for women.
The outcome is that when the celebrity line-up was announced there was, for the first time, a stunningly uneven gender split: six women compared to nine men.
There was speculation that influencer GK Barry, real name Grace Keeling, was a dead cert to sign up, as was former Girls Aloud singer Nicola Roberts.
And new Blue Peter presenter Shini Muthukrishnan was understood to be on the verge of joining, but none of them actually signed.
The new series also features no same-sex couple for the first time in five years,
Producers took the decision earlier this month, it is believed, with some insiders suggesting it was a way of returning the hit BBC1 show to its traditional roots following a series of high-profile scandals.
One source said that while the broadcaster wants to be seen as ‘inclusive and progressive’ executives are aware that ‘not everyone is going to like’ same-sex pairings.
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It may have been a rocky year for the show, but this week the show finally had something to celebrate as they scooped the prize for Talent Show at the National Television Awards on Wednesday night
It may have been a rocky year for the show, but this week the show finally had something to celebrate as they scooped the prize for Talent Show at the National Television Awards on Wednesday night.
The BBC show beat out Britain’s Got Talent, The Great British Bake Off, MasterChef and The Voice to take one of the night’s big prizes.
The NTAs are voted for by the public, with the win for Strictly a clear sign that viewers are still rooting for the show as it prepares to return for its 20th series on Saturday night.
Taking to the stage, host Tess clutched onto the going as she made her speech, telling the audience: ‘Everybody who works on this show would like to say the biggest, most heartfelt thank you to every single person at home watching who voted for us – it means the world!
‘This Saturday we celebrate our 20th birthday at Strictly, 20 years, with our launch show. So this is a wonderful gift.’
