During her first interview since the BBC published the findings of its Strictly ‘bullying’ inquiry, Amanda Abbington revealed how she had suffered ‘one of the worst years of my life’.
Wearing black and with her hair scraped back into a bun, the actress told Newsnight’s sympathetic host Victoria Derbyshire: ‘I’ve been through a lot. Women go through a lot. But it has been a very unpleasant, turbulent, relentless time in my life.’
The ‘lot’ that Ms Abbington alluded to undoubtedly included the toxic row with her former dance partner Giovanni Pernice.
But, as sources have pointed out, it may have also included the split from her long-term partner – fellow actor Martin Freeman. The pair, who have two children, were together for 16 years.
Amanda Abbington on Newsnight last week
Ms Abbington with Giovanni Pernice on the 2023 series
Following the breakdown of their relationship in 2016, Ms Abbington has previously revealed that she was left feeling like she didn’t ‘have to be here any more’ and considered suicide.
Shortly before her split from Freeman, the 52-year-old went bankrupt. Meanwhile, he made millions from his appearances in The Hobbit movies, elevating himself from the underachieving sales rep in sitcom The Office to a bona fide Hollywood star.
In the process, 53-year-old Freeman found love again with a woman 22 years his junior, French actress Rachel Benaissa.
Ms Abbington, who brought up their children most of the time, remained a jobbing actress.
Today, Freeman has five screen roles either ready for release or in pre-production and makes regular appearances on his lover’s Instagram, having undergone what one observer described as a ‘glow-up’.
It is no surprise that some involved with the recent BBC investigation wonder whether the effects of their split drove Ms Abbington to keep ‘going and going’ in the hope of being vindicated. One source said: ‘Amanda had a terrible time when she and Martin split. She felt utterly helpless. It cannot have been easy seeing him leave and then rebuild his life with a much younger woman.
‘She must have had some very dark periods when she had no control. But then Amanda found some degree of control with her case against her Strictly dance partner. It was as if she felt she was able to seize the initiative and get what she wanted if she kept going and going. Now she feels she has achieved just that.’
One source even goes as far as to question if some of her anger and bitterness towards Freeman was re-directed at Pernice, suggesting the Sicilian dancer became ‘a vicarious punchbag for her ex’.
Friends of Pernice have claimed: ‘Something much deeper than just her sense of having been the victim of verbal bullying and harassment while training for Strictly was most definitely driving her.
‘She was not giving up. Her drive to be proved right must have come from somewhere.
‘But it seems so unfair to Gio that he has had to pay the price.’
Publishing its review into Ms Abbington’s claims against Pernice last week, the BBC apologised to the actress and upheld six out of her 17 complaints.
However the corporation cleared Pernice of claims of physical aggression, with the 34-year-old saying he was ‘pleased [it] did not find any evidence of threatening or abusive behaviour’.
Although the report’s verdict has been seen by some as a pyrrhic victory for Ms Abbington, she has said that her motivation was to stand up for herself and encourage other women to do the same.
She told Newsnight: ‘I’ve had so many women come up to me since I made this complaint, thanking me for being brave enough to stand up and complain about something that was affecting me in a work situation.
With her former partner Martin Freeman in The Debt
The actor, 53, and his girlfriend Rachel Benaissa, 31
‘I have had so many women coming up to me asking if they can give me a hug. I did it for the women that were before me, that had gone through the same thing in that work environment.’
Freeman has reportedly been supporting Ms Abbington through her Strictly ordeal, though he hasn’t publicly voiced his backing.
The pair met on the set of the 2000 film Men Only and worked together on several projects including The Debt, The Good Night and The Robinsons.
Their onscreen chemistry was noted when they played husband and wife, John and Mary Watson, in the BBC’s Sherlock alongside Benedict Cumberbatch.
In one candid interview, Freeman suggested it was tough staying faithful, saying: ‘I don’t think it is realistic to suppose there won’t be other temptations – or that you won’t meet people who turn your head. At any one time in your life there are several people you could happily have sex with.’
But the actor added: ‘I absolutely believe in monogamy. It is hard to stay with one person but I think it is worth persevering.’
Initially, their split in 2016 was kept private. But Ms Abbington later revealed that it took a severe toll on her mental health, leaving her feeling like a ‘mess’.
She said: ‘I was breaking up with Martin and then realising I needed to sort myself out. I hated myself.’
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Saying that her mantra was, ‘you could always kill yourself’, she added: ‘That was a genuine option for me, quite a few times. Then I don’t have to be this bad person because I don’t have to be here any more.’
Ms Abbington went to therapy and, five years later, she met her current partner Jonathan Goodwin. Tragically, the stunt performer was left paralysed and confined to a wheelchair following a failed stunt on America’s Got Talent: Extreme. The couple are now engaged, with Ms Abbington saying he has been her ‘rock’.
While Ms Abbington has now insisted she hated her stint on Strictly and suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, I am told by Strictly insiders that there was a feeling she enjoyed being back in the showbiz limelight when she appeared in the last series.
After dropping out of the contest, she went on to star in the play When It Happens To You in north London this year, about a mother trying to keep her family together when her daughter is assaulted.
The source said: ‘Amanda hoped going on Strictly would bring her joy. But that wasn’t to be.
‘A wonderful Strictly journey could have changed her life after years of hurt.’
As for Pernice, who is now starring in the Italian dance contest Ballando con le Stelle, he may well be asking himself whether he unfairly suffered collateral damage from Ms Abbington’s jinxed private life.
‘That certainly has a ring of truth,’ said the BBC insider.