Amanda Abbington was all smiles after performing in her first play since the Strictly Come Dancing scandal and Giovanni Pernice bullying row.

The actress, 51, is currently starring in a production enтιтled (This Is Not A) Happy Room at The King’s Head Theatre in north London. 

In July last year, more than six months after she quit BBC show Strictly citing ‘personal reasons’, Amanda accused Giovanni of ‘unnecessary, cruel and mean behaviour’ during their time dancing together on the series. 

In the wake of her accusations, she faced heavy backlash from the public, with the actress noting that she was subjected to ’20 to 30 death threats a day’.

As she moves on from the row, Amanda took to the stage for a preview performance of Rosie Day’s latest production. 

Amanda stars as divorcee Esther, whose children are reunited with their dad as he gets remarried for a third (or fourth) time. 

Amanda Abbington was all smiles after performing in her first play since the Strictly Come Dancing scandal and Giovanni Pernice bullying row

The actress, 51, is currently starring in a production enтιтled (This Is Not A) Happy Room at The King’s Head Theatre in north London

Amanda recently admitted that she’s unsure if people still ‘like’ her anymore as she opened up on her future following the Giovanni bullying row. 

She 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. 

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.

She said in a recent Times interview that she 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.’

Despite the difficult time, Amanda insisted 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.

In July last year, more than six months after she quit BBC show Strictly citing ‘personal reasons’, the actress accused Pernice of ‘unnecessary, cruel and mean behaviour’ on Strictly

In the wake of her accusations, she faced heavy backlash from the public, with the actress noting that she was subjected to ’20 to 30 death threats a day’

As she moves on from the row, Amanda took to the stage for a preview performance of Rosie Day’s latest production (L to R Tom Kanji, Amanda and Jonny Weldon)

Amanda stars as divorcee Esther, whose children are reunited with their dad as he gets remarried for a third (or fourth) time (L-R Andrea Valls, Alison Liney, Tom Kanji, Amanda, Jonny Weldon, Rosie Day and Jazz Jenkins)

Amanda was supported by her children Joe and Grace Freeman at the event 

She also posed for pH๏τos with castmates Andrea Valls, Jonny Weldon, Rosie Day, Alison Liney, Tom Kanji and Jazz Jenkins

She said: ‘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.’

Read More Strictly’s Amanda Abbington isn’t sure if people ‘like’ her anymore after the Giovanni Pernice bullying row which she claims made her out to ‘be the villain’ – but insists she has ‘no regrets’

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.

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.