Amanda Abbington has ‘no regrets’ about complaints despite ‘hundreds’ of threats
The actress said women have thanked her for ‘paving the way’ for their daughters to work in a safe environment.
Amanda Abbington said she has “no regrets” about lodging complaints against her former Strictly Come Dancing partner Giovanni Pernice, despite receiving “hundreds” of death and rape threats.
An investigation into the actress’s complaints about Pernice was launched earlier this year, with the BBC upholding “some, but not all” of the allegations made against the professional dancer.
“It’s been one of the worst years of my life,” Abbington told BBC Newsnight.
“I’ve been through a lot, women go through a lot, but it has been a very unpleasant, turbulent, relentless time in my life.
“I’ve had to deal with a myriad of horrible things.”
The 50-year-old said that, in the last eight months, the number of threats she has received had “gone into the hundreds”.
In August, the Metropolitan Police confirmed they were investigating after they were called to the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park to an alleged death threat sent to Abbington, who was starring in When It Happens To You.
“I had a credible death threat sent to my place of work, a theatre that I was working at, which was credible and the police had to be called,” Abbington said.
“I had a bomb threat sent to my place of work, threatening to blow the building up because I was pursuing this.
“I’ve had death threats sent to me, my family.
“I’ve had rape threats sent to my 15-year-old daughter, saying ‘I’m just laughing at the moment thinking about you having to watch your daughter get raped for what you’ve done to Giovanni Pernice’.
“They were every day I’d be getting those and I have screenshots that have been handed over to the Met Police.”
Abbington said the threats had “started up again” since the publication of the BBC review on Monday.
She said she has been receiving threats including “I hope you die of cancer” and “I knew you’d get proven wrong you lying c***”.
Despite the threats, Abbington said “I’ve got no regrets” about lodging complaints against Pernice.
“The death threats and the rape threats and the abuse I get are horrible and soul-destroying and heart-breaking,” she said.
“But I do get women coming up to me in the street saying ‘You’re paving the way for my daughter to work in a safe environment and not feel threatened or in any way feel that they can’t speak out’.”
During the interview, Abbington also claimed she was not the only person to have complained about working with Pernice on the BBC flagship show.
She said she invited the former Strictly contestants to her home because “we wanted to make sure we weren’t on our own thinking this had just happened to us”.
Abbington said when they first met “we all burst into tears”.
A spokesman for Pernice said: “It’s disappointing that Ms Abbington would knowingly mislead the outcome of the report in order to further attempt to damage Giovanni’s reputation.
“While Ms Abbington may not like the outcome of the six-month investigation, she should not seek to spread false and defamatory claims.”
Pernice has denied the allegations against him.
