Strictly Come Dancing 2024

[Stephen]

I think her energy and enthusiasm covered her lack of dancing. She was the best of a poor couple. No doubt off to Barbados next week.

She’s not someone I warm to. I didn’t like her much as a singer in the early days.

[oldbluefox]

A bit full of herself and embarrassing how she has to keep telling us all how old she is.

[Onelife]

Pleased to see Amanda Abbington has got an apology from the BBC for the bullying she endured

[Onelife]

A bit full of herself and embarrassing how she has to keep telling us all how old she is.

I agree Foxy, she could do with a good slapping

[towny44]

Pleased to see Amanda Abbington has got an apology from the BBC for the bullying she endured

Ah, but did she really, only the lesser complaints of verbal abuse were upheld, not the more serious ones of physical abuse. She's a wuss, and I can't say I ever liked her.

[Slapstick]

Pleased to see Amanda Abbington has got an apology from the BBC for the bullying she endured

Ah, but did she really, only the lesser complaints of verbal abuse were upheld, not the more serious ones of physical abuse. She's a wuss, and I can't say I ever liked her.

Agreed, then to see her claiming "I've won" makes a mockery of the whole situation.

All that's been proven is that her partner was vocal and wanting to win, given it's a competitive competition I don't see where the problem is.

[Stephen]

Agree, bl**dy snowflake.

A shame Giovanni is not in it this year. Hopefully he’ll be back next year unless he sticks two fingers up at the BBC and stays in Italy doing a similar show. I wouldn’t blame him.

[Onelife]

Pleased to see Amanda Abbington has got an apology from the BBC for the bullying she endured

Ah, but did she really, only the lesser complaints of verbal abuse were upheld, not the more serious ones of physical abuse. She's a wuss, and I can't say I ever liked her.

You clearly wouldn’t have been happy until the perpetrator had drawn blood…on that note, I would remind you that bruises fade but Verbal Abuse (bullying) can, and often does leave the victim with psychological scars that can last a lifetime….fair play to the BBC for upholding her complaints, and deep admiration for Amanda who was willing to say NO!

[Mervyn and Trish]

I have to say the women you choose to admire raise questions about your judgement. No I don't approve of any form of bullying, but the world of ballroom dancing is tough. She didn't just say no. She set out to destroy him. 11 out of 17 complaints, the most serious ones, were rejected. When the investigation began Gio issued one denial and then kept a dignified silence, respecting the process. She continued to give interviews touting her version of events, the majority of which turn out to be untrue. Not much to admire there.

[Jan Rosser]

I have to say the women you choose to admire raise questions about your judgement. No I don't approve of any form of bullying, but the world of ballroom dancing is tough. She didn't just say no. She set out to destroy him. 11 out of 17 complaints, the most serious ones, were rejected. When the investigation began Gio issued one denial and then kept a dignified silence, respecting the process. She continued to give interviews touting her version of events, the majority of which turn out to be untrue. Not much to admire there.

I agree with you Merv - the world of dancing is tough and from an early age it is relentless practice. The methods of tuition are something I have no personal knowledge of but as the saying goes “I know a man who does” and if these personalities cannot understand this then they are either naive or stupid or may be both. Amanda is an actress and has given Oscar worthy interviews - I wasn’t a fan of hers before Strictly and certainly not now. As for Giovanni I wish him well in Strictly in Italy.

[Onelife]

I have to say the women you choose to admire raise questions about your judgement. No I don't approve of any form of bullying, but the world of ballroom dancing is tough. She didn't just say no. She set out to destroy him. 11 out of 17 complaints, the most serious ones, were rejected. When the investigation began Gio issued one denial and then kept a dignified silence, respecting the process. She continued to give interviews touting her version of events, the majority of which turn out to be untrue. Not much to admire there.

As with many cases of bullying the victims have to keep banging on the door till someone listens. There will always be those who won’t accept the truth, (as acknowledged by the BBC) that there was verbal abuse (Bullying) which kind of puts into perspective the silly comments of Snowflake, Wuss that are still floating about.

[Onelife]

I have to say the women you choose to admire raise questions about your judgement. No I don't approve of any form of bullying, but the world of ballroom dancing is tough. She didn't just say no. She set out to destroy him. 11 out of 17 complaints, the most serious ones, were rejected. When the investigation began Gio issued one denial and then kept a dignified silence, respecting the process. She continued to give interviews touting her version of events, the majority of which turn out to be untrue. Not much to admire there.

I agree with you Merv - the world of dancing is tough and from an early age it is relentless practice. The methods of tuition are something I have no personal knowledge of but as the saying goes “I know a man who does” and if these personalities cannot understand this then they are either naive or stupid or may be both. Amanda is an actress and has given Oscar worthy interviews - I wasn’t a fan of hers before Strictly and certainly not now. As for Giovanni I wish him well in Strictly in Italy.

Hi Jan, I’m not so sure that all contestants would fully understand the commitment that professional dancers have to attain to reach the pinnacle of their careers, however that doesn’t negate what I said in a previous post on this topic...

“I rather suspect the egos of professional dancers are far greater than that of most of the contestents….in a discipline that requires perfection it’s quite easy to understand how expectation becomes a tool to push the limits of what most would consider acceptable behaviour.”

[oldbluefox]

I just hope she never signs up for SAS celebrity. Did she think Strictly was some glorified Women's Institute Tea Dance. You're never going to attain the performances we see after just a few days tuition without hard graft. She clearly wasn't up to it and no doubt Giovanni got frustrated with her shenanigans.

[Stephen]

You get out what you put in. Train hard, dance easy.
It’s the hard bit that some can’t handle and go crying to the BBC with ‘that nasty man shouted at me’ as soon as they have to put a bit of graft in and follow instructions. Boo hoo

[Onelife]

In response to the previous two post, I think you both should take a look at her performances prior to her leaving in round six. She, in my judgment clearly had loads of natural dancing ability and had she chosen to put up with the bullying she could have gone a lot further in the competition.

No place in the classroom for bullies Foxy

[oldbluefox]

My experience shows there are plenty you only have to look at and they'll say they are being bullied. And very often those crying they have been bullied are the bullies themselves when they've had a fight and lost.
Maybe a case of a strong woman who couldn't have her own way. There are different ways of looking at it.

[Mervyn and Trish]

I I think you both should take a look at her performances prior to her leaving in round six. She, in my judgment clearly had loads of natural dancing ability

Or maybe Gio trained her well. If it's true that she first complained on Day 3 she should have left and handed back the pay cheque long before Week 6.

I have no time for bullies either. But the 11-6 score in Gio's favour speaks volumes for me. And that's after weeks of investigation and examination of video tapes.

If the BBC seriously believed he was a problem surely they would have warned the Italian TV company.

To my mind she couldn't hack the tough training, in which even the pros sometimes get physically injured, and needed someone to blame.

[Onelife]

I I think you both should take a look at her performances prior to her leaving in round six. She, in my judgment clearly had loads of natural dancing ability

Or maybe Gio trained her well. If it's true that she first complained on Day 3 she should have left and handed back the pay cheque long before Week 6.

I have no time for bullies either. But the 11-6 score in Gio's favour speaks volumes for me. And that's after weeks of investigation and examination of video tapes.

If the BBC seriously believed he was a problem surely they would have warned the Italian TV company.

To my mind she couldn't hack the tough training, in which even the pros sometimes get physically injured, and needed someone to blame.

“We have assessed the complaints and we have upheld some, but not all, of the complaints made,” the statement said. “We want to apologise to Amanda Abbington and to thank her for coming forward and taking part. We know this would not have been an easy thing to do.”
The BBC said that although it “took steps to address the issues as they understood them” at the time, “ultimately these were not enough”, and added that it had since introduced “important” extra duty of care measures, including chaperones in all rehearsal rooms and two new welfare producers.
There were no findings relating to physical aggression, but complaints of verbal bullying and harassment were upheld” BBC News reported.

........

Sir Merv, we know the BBC are renowned for their bias reporting and unscrupulous activities in acquiring stories but what is it that you don’t grasp about their findings in dealing with the now proven bullying and harassment claims?

[Mervyn and Trish]

And what do you not grasp about the 11 allegations, in particular allegations of physical aggression, that were not upheld? Despite her escalating claims of video evidence in a stream of interviews while he kept a dignified silence? Swept under the carpet or made up?

And you haven't answered my question, why didn't she walk out week 1?

To my eye the conclusion smacks of avoiding a whitewash while allowing both of them to claim victory.

I would add she is an actress. Has a director never shouted at her when she kept fluffing her lines? Come to that has she never shouted at anyone?

[Onelife]

And what do you not grasp about the 11 allegations, in particular allegations of physical aggression, that were not upheld? Despite her escalating claims of video evidence in a stream of interviews while he kept a dignified silence? Swept under the carpet or made up?

And you haven't answered my question, why didn't she walk out week 1?

To my eye the conclusion smacks of avoiding a whitewash while allowing both of them to claim victory.

I would add she is an actress. Has a director never shouted at her when she kept fluffing her lines? Come to that has she never shouted at anyone?

With regard to allegations of physical aggression I would presume they relate to how Amanda perceived she was manhandled during practice sessions? While there didn’t appear to be any physical sprains or abrasions it would, I suspect, have been difficult for the BBC to reach any other conclusion.

As for her not walking out in week one, I can only presume she wanted to give him the bennift of doubt…this happens frequently in abusive relationships.

My conclusion is that he knew he was guilty of bullying and harassment which is the reason he hasn’t to my knowledge challenged the decision that the BBC have reached.

[Slapstick]

"With regard to allegations of physical aggression I would presume they relate to how Amanda perceived she was manhandled during practice sessions? While there didn’t appear to be any physical sprains or abrasions it would, I suspect, have been difficult for the BBC to reach any other conclusion"

How she perceived it and what actually occurred are totally different, the BBC would've no doubt viewed several hours of video and have concluded there was not any physical aggression.

My own conclusion is that he was doing his job as a professional dancer and she was unable to cope with the pressures that come with it.

My guess is, he's chosen not to go to the press because he wants to move on, unlike her of course!!!

He is probably guilty of using strong and abusive words, but if that's considered as bullying then I'm guilty too as would most people I'd guess.

[Onelife]

Hi Slapstick, I’m sure different working environments have their own descriptive language tolerances, some I guess are accepted as being the norm but in the majority of working environments abusive language isn’t acceptable, so it is for this reason I guess that the BBC reached the decision they did in not extending his contract.

P.s …there have been occasions on this forum where I have considered taking legal action against those who have subjected me to abusive language….I know It’s hard to believe but it is true

[Mervyn and Trish]

And what do you not grasp about the 11 allegations, in particular allegations of physical aggression, that were not upheld? Despite her escalating claims of video evidence in a stream of interviews while he kept a dignified silence? Swept under the carpet or made up?

And you haven't answered my question, why didn't she walk out week 1?

To my eye the conclusion smacks of avoiding a whitewash while allowing both of them to claim victory.

I would add she is an actress. Has a director never shouted at her when she kept fluffing her lines? Come to that has she never shouted at anyone?

With regard to allegations of physical aggression I would presume they relate to how Amanda perceived she was manhandled during practice sessions? While there didn’t appear to be any physical sprains or abrasions it would, I suspect, have been difficult for the BBC to reach any other conclusion.

As for her not walking out in week one, I can only presume she wanted to give him the bennift of doubt…this happens frequently in abusive relationships.

My conclusion is that he knew he was guilty of bullying and harassment which is the reason he hasn’t to my knowledge challenged the decision that the BBC have reached.

No he hasn't. He has taken the same view as me, and the majority of posts I've seen in social media, and welcomed the verdict as vindication.

[Onelife]

Ok’ Sir Merv, if that’s the way you want to see things, but mark my words, you will all be telling me what “humble pie” tastes like before this if finished

[Mervyn and Trish]

I've no doubt he has been given the full details of the conclusions of the investigation, which neither you nor I have. But even on the summary released to the world I cannot see 6-11 as a win for her. Yes he probably shouted. Maybe swore. But he apparently was not violent or physical as she alleged. Bullying is wrong. But so are false allegations.