Amanda Abbington fought back the tears on This Morning on Monday as she recounted ‘the hardest year of her entire life’ – but defiantly insisted ‘I don’t regret what happened’.
The 51-year-old – who appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2023 – appeared on the ITV programme to chat to Ben Shephard, 50, and Cat Deeley, 48, about her brand new play This Is Not A Happy Room.
During the interview Cat touched upon the Strictly scandal which rocked the nation last year, after Amanda made claims about her professional dance partner Giovanni Pernice.
Giovanni denied all allegations, and the Beeb’s investigation ruled out her physical aggression and threatening behaviour, but claims of verbal bullying and harrᴀssment were upheld, and they apologised to her.
Amanda said on This Morning: ‘It has been tricky.
‘We don’t want to go over old ground and I don’t regret what happened.
Teary-eyed Amanda Abbington defiantly insists she ‘doesn’t regret what happened’ despite huge backlash to Giovanni Pernice bullying row causing ‘hardest year of her life’
Presenter Cat touched upon the Strictly scandal which rocked the nation last year, after Amanda made claims about her professional dance partner Giovanni Pernice
Amanda pictured with her former dance partner Giovanni Pernice – who competed together on Strictly in 2023
‘It’s time to move on.’
The actress couldn’t holdback her emotion as she continued: ‘It was one of the hardest years of my entire life,’ and her voice started to crack.
But luckily Amanda has plenty to look forward to.
As well as her play, which starts later this month, she’s also focusing on her son Joe, who has followed into her footsteps of acting.
She said: ‘[Joe] is starring in Stephen King’s adaptation of The Insтιтute.
‘He didn’t want me and his dad to be part of it, he didn’t tell anybody.
‘His instincts are completely there as an actor. I would be honoured to work with him. I would tell him if he was bad, it wouldn’t be fair.’
Amanda also revealed to the presenters that her daschund has had a whopping eleven puppies.
It comes after Amanda confessed that she isn’t sure if people ‘like’ her anymore.
In a new interview with The Times, Amanda has reflected on the aftermath of the row, remarking that she was made out to be the ‘villain’ in it all, before insisting that she has ‘no regrets’ about standing up for herself.
Strictly Come Dancing’s Amanda Abbington has admitted that she’s unsure if people still ‘like’ her anymore as she opens up on her future following the Giovanni Pernice bullying row
In July last year, the actress accused Pernice of ‘unnecessary, cruel and mean behaviour’ during their time dancing together on Strictly
While Giovanni’s career appears to be back on track, with the dancer having recently won the Italian version of Strictly, Amanda has thrown herself into a new, yet somewhat less high-profile role in the play (This Is Not A) Happy Room – playing to a more intimate audience in a theatre behind a north London pub.
Speaking to publication’s Dominic Maxwell, Amanda looked forward to the future and told how she would love to continue acting and even turn to directing down the line, but she isn’t sure of the public opinion of her following the tough period in her life.
She shared: ‘I don’t know what the industry thinks of me at the moment. I’ve been immersed in the aftermath of it all for a year. I don’t know whether I’ve been cancelled or whether people don’t like me any more, but I know I did what I did for the right reasons. I feel good about the future.’
During the chat, she looked back on being in the thick of the furore in which Giovanni accused her of trying to destroy his career, but Amanda insists she was trying to suggest that they have a ‘safe space’ to ‘take five minutes’ to ensure they were all ‘happy’, but yet instead she said: ‘I was made out to be the villain.’
She added: ‘Last year was one of the worst years of my entire life. I was very close to having a breakdown because of the constant barrage of abuse and hideousness.’
Despite the difficult time, Amanda insists she doesn’t ‘regret anything’ and in fact was ‘glad’ she spoke up for herself as she had never done so before, with the situation reminding her of being bullied as a child.
She told The Times: ‘The fallout from it wasn’t something I was anticipating, but I’m glad I did it, I am. I’m glad that I stood up for myself because it’s the first time I’ve ever really done that.’
Amanda went on to say that her years of being ‘bullied extensively’ as a child gave her the push to take action against Giovanni and she can see how ‘introverted’ people become when being bullied.
A BBC investigation ruled in September that her claims of physical aggression and threatening behaviour were not upheld. However, complaints of verbal bullying and harᴀssment were upheld
Despite this, Amanda faced heavy backlash from the public, with the actress noting that she was subjected to ’20 to 30 death threats a day’ on social media
Amanda has reflected on the aftermath of the row, remarking that she was made out to be the ‘villain’ in it all, before insisting that she has ‘no regrets’ about standing up for herself
‘I don’t know what the industry thinks of me at the moment. I’ve been immersed in the aftermath of it all for a year. I don’t know whether I’ve been cancelled or whether people don’t like me any more’
She added that when she made her accusations, she was thanked and hugged by ‘so many women’, which she quipped was a nice changed from the numerous threats on social media.
With the ordeal now behind her, Amanda told how she can finally says she’s ‘actually happy’ now as she looks to moving on with her life, adding that she’s ‘learnt a lot’ about herself and can now ‘block certain things’ that she couldn’t before.
Amanda is best known for playing Miss Mardle in Mr Selfridge and Mary Watson in Sherlock, the BBC adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic detective stories
Last year, she starred in a show at the Park Theatre in North London called When It Happens To You.
This Morning airs weekdays on ITV1 from 10am and is available to stream on ITVX.
