Laura Whitmore accuses BBC bosses of ‘gaslighting’ her

Laura Whitmore has accused BBC bosses of ‘gaslighting’ her over her Strictly Come Dancing experience with Giovanni Pernice.

The TV presenter, 39, who was partnered with the Italian dancer, 33, on the show in 2016, recently confirmed she’d spoken to the show about Giovanni’s ‘inappropriate behaviour’, following her claims that she initially raised concerns to the BBC six years ago. 

And in a dramatic new statement, the star has shed more light on her Strictly experience, telling how it’s ‘all coming out now’ amid the flurry of accusations against the show and its professional dancers.

Speaking to The Irish Post, Laura told how she believes that the industry has changed for women since she found fame, noting that women are ‘louder’ and are now ‘pulling people up on things.’

She added of her Strictly situation: ‘The stuff I’m not going to talk to you about now, because it’s under review, that’s all coming out now, the stuff I tried to speak about eight years ago. 

When asked if she wasn’t ‘listened to’ when she first raised her complaints, she shared: ‘Or [I was] gaslit to make it seem normalised.’

Laura went on to add: ‘It’s a shame that it has to come out in such a victim-shaming way, which it always does. And being the first person to speak up about anything is always hard.’

MailOnline have contacted Strictly Come Dancing representatives, who declined to comment. 

The presenter’s words comes days after she broke her silence over the Strictly scandal and confirmed she’d spoken to BBC bosses about Giovanni’s behaviour.

Although she hasn’t made a formal complaint, Laura hopes to get ‘just an acceptance’ of what happened to her in the rehearsals room.

Laura admitted she has discussed with six former Strictly stars about their time on the show and took their information to the BBC.

On an Instagram post, Laura wrote: ‘I was trying not to comment on recent press speculation until the BBC review is complete but feel there is a lot of misinformation in the press and I want to help and show support by setting the record straight.

‘I was asked to speak to the BBC along with six people that I know of (who deserve anonymity as they don’t want to be dragged through the press), about inappropriate behaviour they experienced similar to mine with the same individual. 

‘I initially raised concerns back in 2016. I thought my experience was specific to me but I’ve since learned I was wrong.

‘The aim of this is to show a pattern of behaviour that I believe needs to stop. My evidence is to support other people’s experience. It’s a shame it takes this for someone to be heard.

‘I am not looking for anything just an acceptance that what happened to me in the rehearsal rooms during my time on BBC Strictly was wrong and that it won’t happen to anyone else again.

‘Because I have not made an official complaint, and am providing evidence of my experience to support the investigation, not all the communication will be passed on to all parties involved.

‘Misinformation is being put into the press so I want to set the record straight. Victim blaming must stop or we will never get better. 

‘I’ve tried to speak up in the correct way. I know the BBC and all outlets continue to do their best to be better, but for that to happen we must speak up.’

Amanda Abbington – Giovanni’s last celebrity partner – quit Strictly last year due to ‘personal reasons’ before reports she had demanded footage of their rehearsals after the experience in the competition left her with PTSD.

Sources then claimed Amanda, Ranvir Singh and Laura had an ’emotional summit’ where they ‘compared notes’ about their time working with Giovanni on the show – prompting the BBC to launch a probe into his conduct.

In 2018, Laura shared that she didn’t enjoy her time on Strictly with Giovanni, leaving the competition in week seven feeling ‘broken’ and admitting she ‘cried every day’.

The Irish presenter wasn’t happy about being paired with her close friend Georgia May Foote’s ex not long after the pair had split – and felt ‘extremely uncomfortable’ dancing with him.

Writing for The Huffington Post at the time, Laura said: ‘I love dancing – I topped the leaderboard twice – but I was thrown into the middle of a break-up that had nothing to do with me. Once again, I was a “rumoured love interest”.

‘I was placed with a dance partner I was extremely uncomfortable with – and in the end I felt broken, I cried every day. And I really was broken, both mentally and physically, by the end.’

It comes just days after Strictly was plunged into further crisis  after Amanda claimed that Giovanni was trying to block the release of up to 50 hours of ‘toxic’ footage’. 

In an emotionally charged interview, the actress compared the dance show to ‘the trenches’ telling Channel 4 News that BBC producers had been left ‘horrified’ by clips that also allegedly exhibited ‘humiliating behaviour of a sexual nature’.

‘There’s 50 hours of footage that’s being blocked. You know, 50 hours is a lot of footage, and a lot of time spent in a room that was toxic,’ she told presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy.

‘It’s out there. There is evidence out there of what happened in that room and I’m not the one who’s blocking it. I’ve said anyone can watch it, but he (Giovanni) doesn’t want anyone to see it, which is quite telling if he’s got nothing to hide.’

A spokesperson for Giovanni told MailOnline: ‘We would urge people to wait for the review’s conclusion and not to pay heed to these very serious and defamatory allegations that have no evidence in support of them.’ 

The actress said that cameras were installed into her and Giovanni’s rehearsal studio after she raised concerns after the first week of practice with producers wanting to review the footage each week to assess what was ‘going on’ between the pair. 

Giovanni had claimed he had asked for the cameras, which Amanda says is untrue. 

‘So in the first week, I raised my concerns to the producers,’ the actress explained, as she fought back tears.

‘Giovanni said that he asked for the cameras, he didn’t ask for the cameras, I know that he didn’t ask for the cameras, because the producers came to me and said, ‘we’re going to put in cameras so we can view the footage at the end of the week and make an assessment and see what’s going on’.

‘And then every Friday, after the next sort of five weeks, I would get the producer saying, on the Friday, ‘we just watched the footage back, we are shocked and horrified, we’re so sorry’. 

‘That was to my face on the Friday when we would go in and do the camera rehearsal.’

Throughout the interview, Guru-Murthy, who also starred on the 2023 series, asked whether it was correct that Amanda had experienced ‘humiliating behaviour of a sexual nature’, with the actress holding back tears as she nodded in agreement. 

‘Yeah. I mean, you know, one of the many things,’ she said, clarifying it was not harassment. 

Ever since the claims first emerged Giovanni has denied all of the allegations, claiming to have provided a dossier of evidence to the Beeb investigators and ‘remains fully confident in clearing his name’.

Disputing Amanda’s claims once again following tonight’s interview, a spokesperson for the Italian dancer said: ‘The BBC has shared the allegations they have been able to substantiate with us. 

‘They do not resemble Amanda’s latest allegations, given to Channel 4, in any shape or form. Giovanni refutes any claim of threatening or abusive behaviour.’ 

After the fallout, Amanda said she did not hear from any one at the BBC again, claiming: ‘I haven’t spoken to anyone from the BBC since Strictly. 

‘No one from the BBC has reached out to me since Strictly, either through me or my lawyer.’

In a message to those in charge of the BBC show that has been running since 2004 she added: ‘Just be aware of what’s going on and when you know it’s going on, nip it in the bud. Don’t allow it to continue.’

Amanda went on to claim that she has faced a number of violent threats from both Strictly fans and ‘Giovanni fans’ who have asked her ‘how can you destroy something like Strictly’. 

She revealed the extent of the alleged harassment she has received in recent months from trolls, telling Channel 4 that ‘It has been brutal and relentless and unforgiving’.

‘The aftermath has been something I was not expecting. The death threats and the rape threats not only to myself but to my daughter. The threats of death to my son,’ she added.

‘When you get one or two of the those you can [shrug it off],’ she added. ‘But when it’s dozens of people saying ‘just go kill yourself’, ‘go die of cancer‘, ‘just kill yourself, your kids will be better off without you as a mother’.

Amanda detailed other horrific messages she allegedly received. Others included ‘I hope your daughter gets raped, I hope your son is stabbed’, ‘you don’t deserve any good things you have done’, ‘you’re a snowflake, you’re stupid, you’re an idiot’.

The bombshell interview comes as the flagship BBC One show continues to be rocked by a string of allegations, which saw Giovanni as well as professional dancer Graziano Di Prima step down. 

Giovanni was accused of bullying by Amanda as well as two other, unnamed contestants.  

Graziano was axed from the show last month after allegations emerged that he kicked, hit and spat at reality TV star Zara McDermott during rehearsals last year.