Amanda Abbington's pre-Strictly Q&A resurfaces with eyebrow raising confessions
Amanda Abbington warned of her competitive spirit having the potential to spiral out of control before she joined Strictly Come Dancing - only to later quit the show amid rumours she clashed with dance partner Giovanni Pernice.
The 51-year-old actress was a fan favourite in the current 2023 season of the long-running BBC dance competition - and wowed viewers with her impressive routines with 33-year-old Giovanni. Fans were concerned when the pair were forced to miss week five of the contest due to “medical issues”.
And then just days later, it was announced that Amanda had been forced to withdraw from the show completely. Her early exit came after weeks of reports she had clashed with Giovanni behind the scenes of the show as he instilled a brutal rehearsal regime and some reports suggested Amanda had grown “fed up” with the conditions of the training.
Back before she started her Strictly journey, Amanda warned she was headstrong herself - saying she needed to keep her competitive spirit under control. In a pre-contest interview, the Sherlock actress was asked: “What do you think will be the biggest challenge?” Amanda revealed: “I think the biggest challenge is that I'm very competitive and I have to keep that in check. I've got to remember that you're going into it and it's a competition, but that's not the be all and end all, I need to go in and have fun and a nice time.”
Amanda Abbington warned of her competitiveness before her Strictly debut (Dave Benett/Getty Images)
She danced with Giovanni Pernice and quit the show this week (PA)While reports suggested she quit the show after being “fed up” with the training, she had explained before hand that she was looking forward to having “fun” on the show.
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Amanda was asked: “Have you had any advice from anyone who has done the show before?” She replied: “Yes, everybody that I've spoken to like Catherine Tyldesley and Sunetra Sarker have said just go in and enjoy it.
“Don't go in to win it, just have the best time and take it step by step literally. You'll have the most fun then and that's what I wanted to do... just come in and have a nice time.”
She also confessed that while the advice may have been not to compete to win, she definitely had aspirations of winning the Glitterball trophy. She said: “Oh, come on everybody has their eye on the glitterball! Everyone's fairly competitive, aren't they? So yeah, I’d love that ball...and the confetti moment!”
Amanda’s exit was confirmed on Monday with her exit announced on companion show It Takes Two - hours after reports emerged to break the news. The official Strictly Instagram page also shared the news, writing: “Sadly Amanda Abbington is leaving Strictly 2023.”
An accompanying photo of the actress smiling alongside Giovanni appeared with a statement reading: “Amanda Abbington is unable to continue in Strictly Come Dancing and has decided to withdraw from the competition. The show wishes her all the best for the future."
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