Strictly Come Dancing: BBC boss apologises for complaints

The BBC’s director general has apologised to contestants on Strictly Come Dancing after complaints of offensive behaviour on the show.

Tim Davie said he was “disappointed” to hear that several celebrities had complained about the way their dance partners treated them during rehearsals.

Pickering warned BBC One staff not to cross the line between competition and “unacceptable behaviour”, but confirmed the programme would return.

“There will be a degree of competitiveness and a will to do well, but there are limits and they should never be crossed,” he said.

“We have zero tolerance for unacceptable behavior of any kind.”

Professionals Graziano Di Prima and Giovanni Pernis have left the show after allegations about their behaviour during training.

Bernice denied “any allegations of abusive or threatening behaviour.”

A spokesman for Di Prima has admitted that the dancer kicked teammate Zara McDermott during training last year. Di Prima said he deeply regretted “the events that led to his departure from Strictly” and that “his intense passion and determination to win may have affected my training regime”.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Davey said he was “deeply sorry that anyone had an experience that wasn’t entirely positive.”

“This is something we need to think about and I’m sorry about that,” he added.

“There were clearly lessons learned specifically in relation to supervision in training rooms that we had to address.”

“With the benefit of experience, do you think we could have done more?” he added.

Mr Davey confirmed that the show will return as planned later this year, despite the problems it is facing.

Last week, the BBC announced new measures that include placing a member of the Strictly production team at all rehearsals to monitor behaviour.

Training will also be enhanced and two new social care producers will be appointed – one for celebrity contestants and one for professional dancers.

Launching the BBC’s annual report, the director general described Strictly as “a fantastic show that brings so much joy to so many people, and has done so for 20 years, both to those taking part in the show itself and to millions of people in their homes”.

“Hundreds of people took part – whether professionals, racers or crew – and had a great experience.

“At the same time, if someone feels something is wrong or wants to talk about their experience, of course we want them to raise that with us.

“There is no doubt that we will take it seriously, we will listen to it, and we will deal with it appropriately. And while I will not speak about individuals, you can see evidence of that in recent weeks.

“So I hope that anyone who wants to talk to us feels that they can.”

He added that the programme’s support protocols and structures would remain “under review”.

This year’s participating celebrities are expected to be revealed in August.

“We have a great squad this year and we are keen to move forward,” he added.

More about the BBC Annual Report:

The first to complain was Sherlock actress Amanda Abbington, who was among those cast as Bernice last year but pulled out halfway through the series.

She has since accused him of being “unnecessary, abusive, cruel and malicious”. Law firm Carter Ruck said it had contacted the BBC with “numerous serious complaints” about Bernice’s alleged behaviour.

Trump denies the allegations, saying he was “surprised” by the accusations and that “totally untrue” stories about him appear in the media every week.

Meanwhile, following the news that Di Prima had left this year’s squad, his most recent partner Zara McDermott said she had been involved in multiple incidents in the training room, which she now finds “very sad” to watch.

Di Prima’s spokesman said the kick was an isolated incident, adding: “He knows he made a mistake. He apologised at the time.”

Paralympian Will Bailey is among the other celebrities who have spoken about their experiences on the show.

The table tennis player praised his dance partner Janet Manrara, describing her as “incredibly supportive” and “very professional”.

But he said the serious injury that forced him to pull out of the show in 2019 was “avoidable” and that the BBC made him feel like he was “making a mountain out of a molehill” when he later complained.

Bailey, who was born with the condition arthrogryposis and suffers from severe arthritis, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee while jumping off a table during training.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live on Tuesday that he would “never recover” from the injury.

After this happened, he wrote to the BBC to complain and suggest more support for disabled riders, but said he found the response “really frustrating”.

“It was like, ‘We’ve done everything we can, we’re behind you,'” he told BBC Breakfast. “It felt like I was making a big deal out of it. That’s how I felt.”

Bailey noted that showrunners need more support in learning how to work with contestants with disabilities.

“You’re put in a dance hall with a professional dancer and you’re made to do all these moves like lifting things and jumping off the table. I think the professional dancer should be given more help in that way,” he said.

Responding to Bailey’s comments, Mr Davie said: “The door is always open for people to come to the BBC and discuss things we can do to improve performance, but overall I think we have the systems and processes in place and we are updating and changing them.”