Laura Whitmore alleges ‘inappropriate behaviour’ during Strictly stint

Irish TV presenter Laura Whitmore alleges that she was subjected to “inappropriate behaviour” during her stint on Strictly Come Dancing.

The former Love Island host, 39, was partnered with professional dancer Giovanni Pernice in 2016, and was the seventh celebrity eliminated.

Whitmore, who battled through an ankle injury during the early weeks of the BBC One show, claims she “raised concerns” at the time.

Pernice, 33, has previously rejected “threatening or abusive behaviour” allegations made by Sherlock actress Amanda Abbington, who was partnered with him in 2023 before he exited the show.

Whitmore wrote in an Instagram story on Saturday: “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.”

She added that she is trying to “set the record straight” by speaking out.

“Victim blaming must stop or we will never get better,” Whitmore also said.

“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.”

Abbington claimed producers were “shocked and horrified” after they viewed her training films, during an interview with former Strictly co-star Krishnan Guru-Murthy on Channel 4 News.

However, she said she is unable to provide more detail because of the ongoing BBC review of her complaint, but described it as “bullying and aggressive behaviour”.

A spokesman for Pernice previously said: “We are co-operating fully with the BBC’s review process.

“All parties have been asked to respect this process and to not speak to the media before it concludes.

“We will continue to respect the integrity of the investigation and believe it is the right forum for all the evidence to be reviewed.

“As part of the evidence-led review, 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, and, having provided the BBC with his evidence, is confident that the review will prove this.

“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.”

Graziano Di Prima left the show after allegations about his treatment of Love Island star Zara McDermott.

BBC director-general Tim Davie apologised to contestants who have had an experience that “hasn’t been wholly positive”, and maintained the show would return.

Paralympian Will Bayley said he suffered a serious injury while performing a jump during rehearsals in 2019, and claimed he was shown “no duty of care”.

On July 16, the BBC said it would introduce measures to “strengthen welfare and support” on the show, including a chaperone who will be present “at all times” during training room rehearsals.

A previous statement from the corporation said: “Anyone involved in a complaint has a right to confidentiality and fair process and therefore it would be inappropriate to comment further on individuals.

“However, when issues are raised with us we always take them extremely seriously and have appropriate processes in place to manage this.

“As we have said before, we would urge people not to indulge in speculation.

“More generally, the BBC and BBC Studios takes duty of care extremely seriously.

“Our processes on Strictly Come Dancing are updated every year, they are kept under constant review, and last week we announced additional steps to further strengthen welfare and support on the show.”

There have also been reports of former staff working for the show claiming that there was a “toxic” culture by, according to the Observer, and alleging that they were directed to the Film and TV Charity, and not the whistleblowing service, to raise complaints.

A BBC Studios said statement: “The welfare of our crews working on each series of Strictly is always of paramount importance to us.

“We act speedily when any concerns are raised, and we have thorough, effective and longstanding processes to manage them.

“The show is a fast-paced live TV production environment that has attracted hundreds of people in the industry to work on who have had a positive experience, so we do not recognise the claims relating to a negative workplace culture – or that there are flaws in our whistleblowing process.

“In 2022, we announced the introduction of our industry-leading initiative The Pledge on all our productions, including Strictly, which proactively encourages anyone on our sets to raise concerns of inappropriate behaviour via a number of avenues, including anonymously to Navex Global, an external whistleblowing service independent of the BBC and BBC Studios.

“Details are widely available for this provider across the BBC Group to all staff and freelance colleagues and we are sorry if the two former crew members experienced difficulties raising their concerns.”

Crews are told on the first day of production how to raise issues and the Pledge is put in prominent places, it is understood.

The BBC declined to comment on Whitmore’s allegations.

A spokesperson for Pernice has been contacted for comment.