THE BBC’S INVESTIGATION into harmful work practices behind the scenes of Strictly Come Dancing has seen one professional dancer dropped and another identified as a ‘person of interest’.

Professional dancer Graziano Di Prima left the show after an investigation into his training methods while partnered with celebrity contestant Zara McDermott, who rose to fame after appearing on Love Island in 2018. 

McDermott spoke candidly about her experience on the popular dance contest show in an Instagram post after news of Di Prima’s depature became public.

“The entire production team and everyone behind the scenes as well as my fellow contestants were so amazing to work with,” McDermott said of her time on Strictly. “However, my experience inside the training room was very different.”

“Reports have been made about my treatment on the show and there were witnesses to some events, as well as videos of particular incidents which are incredibly distressing to watch,” McDermott said. One video that has resurfaced was taken by Di Prima and appears to show McDermott sleeping on the floor of the training room accompanied by the caption: “She asked for a five minute break” alongside an emoji with its eyes crossed out. 

Di Prima’s departure marks the second time in as many months that a professional dancer has left the show under unseemly circumstances. In June, Giovanni Pernice left the show after his dance partner – actress Amanda Abbington – walked out mid-season and later described her time on the show as “the worst experience”.

“The show was tough and horrible,” Abbington told the Sunday Times. More of Pernice’s partners went on to express negative experiences on the show, with Irish media presenter Laura Whitmore saying that her 2016 experience with Pernice left her “broken, both mentally and physically”. Whitmore described Pernice as “a dance partner I was extremely uncomfortable with”. 

Reports of gruelling training sessions were already public knowledge, with TV presenter and 2022 contestant Hamza Yassin saying at the time: “I’ve lost a lot of weight already, around 6.5kg [1.02-stone], which is unheard of really. But if you’re training nine hours a day you kind of get that.”

Another former contestant, Reverend Richard Coles has described the show as having a “dark heart”. He appeared on the show in 2017. “I think no one has been surprised that this stuff has surfaced,” Coles told Time Radio. 

Both Abbington and McDermott, who was a policy adviser at the United Kingdom’s Department of Education before her stint on Love Island, have also spoken out about the backlash that comes with raising concerns about such a popular television programme. Strictly Come Dancing has been a core part of BBC’s annual programming slate since it began in 2004 and has featured well-loved presenters such as Bruce Forsyth and Claudia Winkleman. The finale of last year’s season brought in 10 million viewers.

“The show was tough and horrible, but the aftermath of it I was not expecting. It’s been really brutal and it just hasn’t stopped,” Sherlock actress Abbington told The Sunday Times. 

“It’s been awful, just relentless. Death threats and rape threats for just standing up for something that I thought was wrong,” she went on to say.

McDermott spoke of her fear of what reaction she would face upon pursuing her concerns, saying: “I have wrestled with the fear of opening up — I was scared about public backlash, I was scared about my future, I was scared of victim shaming.”

According to a report in The Independent (UK) published on Wednesday morning, a third unnamed dancer has now been identified as a person of interest by the BBC investigation. 

Reacting to the scandal, the BBC has promised that future editions of Strictly Come Dancing will see all training sessions chaperoned by members of the production team, and that new roles will be created in order to provide “welfare support” for the dancers and celebrities on the show. 

Pernice has sought to push back against the BBC’s findings. In a statement made after he left the show, Pernice said: “As requested, I have stayed silent, but I am looking forward to the conclusion of the investigation and ultimately clearing my name and establishing the truth.”

“I have always rejected any suggestion of abusive or threatening behaviour. The latest accusations are simply false,” Pernice said on Instagram last month.

Earlier this week, Di Prima issued a statement, saying: “I deeply regret the events that led to my departure from Strictly. My intense passion and determination to win might have affected my training regime.

“Respecting the BBC HR process, I understand it’s best for the show that I step away.”