Amanda Abbington on moment she knew 'this isn't right' before quitting Strictly

Amanda Abbington revealed the moment she knew "this isn't right" before quitting Strictly.

During Thursday’s (July 25) instalment of Lorraine, the 50-year-old spoke to Christine Lampard about the ongoing investigation with the BBC regarding her treatment with star Giovanni Pernice.

Speaking to the ITV host, Christine asked what point she realised her Strictly experience wasn't what she had initially thought.

She replied: "Week one, the third day. I got texts to the producer on day three going, this is awful he hates me I don't know what I'm doing wrong, I'm trying my best, I promise you. That was the first week."

Amanda later explained she felt as though she has a right to speak out about the "toxic" environment she was in. She added: "I know what happened in that room and it would be remiss of me if I was to say, 'It's fine, I don't want to talk about it'."

Telling the ITV host she continued to go into the rehearsal tooms each day, she's been in the industry for 32 years and knows how people should conduct themselves.

She said: "I don't care what background you're from, whether it's dancing, acting or singing,. You have a duty of care to bring into that rehearsal room with compassion, understanding, sensitivity and kindness. That wasn't extended to me, I just said, 'I don't think this is right'.

Christine asked whether or not bullying was the best way to describe what happened to her in that room. She replied: "Yeah, it was inappropriate, it was mean, it was nasty, it was bullying and I put up with it for five weeks.

"It started very early on and when it started to happen, I would shut down because I would recognise those red flags and so I would shut down and it would be different to get in."

Christine read out a statement the BBC have put out, saying: "The BBC and BBC Studios takes duty of care extremely seriously- our processes on Strictly are kept under constant review and last week we announced additional steps to further strengthen welfare and support on the show."

Last year, Strictly Come Dancing fans saw Amanda take part in the BBC competition alongside Giovanni. However, in week five of the series, the actress decided to drop out due to “personal reasons”.

Since then, the star has made claims against her former dancing professional, accusing his behaviour of being "unnecessary, abusive, cruel and mean".

Although the former professional dancer has constantly denied claims made against him, with a spokesperson on his behalf saying: “He remains fully confident of clearing his name."

Recently, Amanda said the BBC has 50 hours of footage of her time with Giovanni, although she said it’s being “blocked”. Speaking to Channel 4 News this week, Amanda told presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy that her lawyer was challenging to get it.

She added: “He [Pernice] doesn't want anyone to see it, which is quite telling if you've got nothing to hide". After she dropped out of the competition, Amanda detailed some of the harrowing treatment and abuse she received from fans of the show and Giovanni.

Amanda revealed both she and her children had death and rape threats made against them. Since then, several other celebrities have come forward regarding their treatment during the show.

Most recently, Graziano Di Prima was axed from the programme after bosses watched “shocking” footage of him with his partner Zara McDermott.

Following the ongoing Strictly saga, BBC director general Tim Davie has since apologised and was left “disappointed”. He said the broadcaster will “never tolerate unacceptable behaviour”.

Lorraine continues weekdays on ITV from 9am