Ex-Strictly dancer shocked at complaints

Chloe Hewitt was a professional dancer on the show in 2016 and 2017

A former professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing said she was "shocked" by recent complaints of abusive behaviour on the show.

Chloe Hewitt, from Burleydam, near Nantwich, Cheshire, who worked on the show in 2016 and 2017, said her experience was "positive" and "genuine".

Actress Amanda Abbington had claimed her professional partner on the show, Giovanni Pernice, was "unnecessary, abusive, cruel and mean".

Pernice has denied "any claim of threatening or abusive behaviour".

The BBC has said it takes issues "extremely seriously" when raised and has "appropriate processes in place to manage" them.

Ms Hewitt told BBC Radio Stoke that while she worked on the show, the dancers were all "tight-knitted".

"Anything like this as a show, there's a pressure to always want to do your best," she said.

"It always seemed like everyone was working together when I was on the show.

"My experience was nothing more than positive and genuine."

Pernice said he was "cooperating fully" with an internal BBC investigation

Earlier this month, TV star Zara McDermott, who was partnered with another former dancer, Graziano Di Prima, last year, said she was involved in incidents in the Strictly training room that she now finds "incredibly distressing" to watch back.

A spokesman for Graziano Di Prima confirmed the star kicked McDermott once during rehearsals, which led to his removal from the show.

"There is never a time when kicking, or any sense of that is right," Mark Borkowski told BBC News. "And he knows that.

"He knows he's made a mistake. He apologised at the time."

But McDermott's spokesman said: "Zara has already confirmed in a statement released on her social media earlier this week that the reported conduct was not a singular incident."

More on Strictly Come Dancing:

• Abbington 'raised Strictly concerns on day three'

• Amanda Abbington 'received rape threats' after Strictly

• BBC boss says sorry over Strictly complaints

• A timeline of how the Strictly saga has unfolded

Ms Hewitt said when the news started to arrive "it was almost as if I wasn't reading what was real".

"The allegations aren't nice by any means - but it's a real shame that they could put a dampener on such a positive show - particularly in its 20th anniversary year," she said.

"You have to gauge what you've got in front of you - how far do [the contestants] need to be pushed.

"There is support on the show - but I never needed it - but if I did, I felt like there was somebody there I could've talked to."

A BBC spokesperson said: "Anyone involved in a complaint has a right to confidentiality and fair process and therefore it would be inappropriate to comment further on individuals.

"However, when issues are raised with us we always take them extremely seriously and have appropriate processes in place to manage this. As we have said before, we would urge people not to indulge in speculation.

"More generally, the BBC and BBC Studios takes duty of care extremely seriously. Our processes on Strictly Come Dancing are updated every year, they are kept under constant review and last week we announced additional steps to further strengthen welfare and support on the show."

Those steps include having a member of production staff in all rehearsals and appointing new welfare officers for the celebrities and professionals.

On Tuesday, BBC director general Tim Davie apologised to contestants whose experiences on the show hadn't been "wholly positive", and maintained the show would return.