Loose Women’s Kaye Adams, Judi Love, Penny Lancaster and Sunetra Sarker – who have all appeared on Strictly Come Dancing – have revealed their thoughts on the ongoing drama
Loose Women stars who have competed on Strictly Come Dancing have waded into the drama surrounding the show.
The BBC dance competition has been hit with controversy in recent months. Actress Amanda Abbington raised concerns about her experience on the show as she claimed she was diagnosed with mild PTSD. She was partnered with Giovanni Pernice, who has since stepped away from the show.
An investigation was launched by the BBC and this month dancer Graziano Di Prima was dismissed following allegations of behaviour to Zara McDermott. Loose Women stars Kaye Adams, Judi Love, Penny Lancaster and Sunetra Sarker have now shared their thoughts.
The Loose Women stars gave their verdict on the Strictly scandal (
Image:
ITV)
On Thursday’s show, the panel discussed Amanda’s live interview on Lorraine where she detailed her experience. Sunetra said: “We have all been on there and so we know the good and the bad. Everyone has had individual moments which won’t have been what we wanted them to be. But I don’t want to focus on that, the point here is that firstly, Amanda has found the courage to speak up about inappropriate behaviour and she didn’t find anywhere outside of this route to voice any concern that ‘I don’t feel safe here, I don’t really enjoy this’.
“I think it is down to management to take accountability for media spills. When you are in a difficult pairing, people don’t know where to turn because everybody else has got these amazing pairings. It highlights it event more if there isn’t a space where she can say I am feeling vulnerable. Also for the pros, to say you have paired me with a stranger that is not actually behaving appropriate with me. It has to work both ways.”
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Host Kaye added: “You can understand why the audience don’t want it to be true. People feel very very warmly towards it, but it is a workplace and people need to know that behaviours are going to be appropriate.” Judi then shared: “It is all very sad and it makes you think about how complaints are handled, especially when women speak up about their experiences that have been bad.
Amanda gave an emotional interview on Lorraine (
Image:
ITV)
“Everybody has different experiences on Strictly and it doesn’t mean if your experience was good, then another’s is bad, it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be listened to. Their voice is just as important to make this place of work even more productive.”Penny added: “There needs to be some kind of due care of attention. It is very reminiscent of MeToo. It shouldn’t have to be that way anymore. When I was on Strictly I had a fantastically positive experience but I remember a tripod in rehearsal all the time, I never felt alone. There was always a presence of the video, you didn’t feel aware of but it was always there.
“Just like policing, there is a camera on our arm for not just to protect the officers but also protect the suspects, witnesses. Camera evidence is the most crucial thing and having a place to go to speak with trust.”
