Laura Whitmore says she felt ‘gaslit’ after she raised Strictly concerns in 2016

TV presenter Laura Whitmore has said she felt “gaslit” when she first raised concerns about her Strictly Come Dancing experience.

The former Love Island host was partnered with professional dancer Giovanni Pernice in 2016, and was the seventh celebrity eliminated from the BBC One show.

It comes after allegations made by another former Strictly star, Amanda Abbington, who said that the behaviour of Pernice, whom she was partnered with in 2023, was “unnecessary, abusive, cruel and mean”.

Pernice has rejected “any suggestion of abusive or threatening behaviour”.

Speaking to the Irish Times, Whitmore, from Dublin, said: “The stuff I’m not going to talk to you about now, because it’s under review, that’s all coming out now, the stuff I tried to speak about eight years ago.”

Asked if she felt she had not been listened to when she first aired her concerns, she clarified: “Or (I was) gaslit to make it seem normalised.”

Gaslighting, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, is the action of tricking or controlling someone by making them believe things that are not true.

Whitmore added: “It’s a shame that it has to come out in such a victim-shaming way, which it always does. And being the first person to speak up about anything is always hard.”

The 39-year-old said in a social media post last month that she had been asked to speak to the BBC about allegations of “inappropriate behaviour”, along with six other people.

In the Instagram post she revealed she had “initially raised concerns back in 2016” and said she thought her experience “was specific to me but I’ve since learned I was wrong”.

She added: “I am not looking for anything, just an acceptance that what happened to me in the rehearsal rooms during my time on BBC Strictly was wrong and that it won’t happen to anyone else again.”

In July professional dancer Graziano Di Prima left the show after allegations about his treatment of Love Island star Zara McDermott in 2023.

Paralympian Will Bayley also revealed he suffered a serious injury while performing a jump during Strictly rehearsals in 2019, and claimed he was shown “no duty of care”.

In an interview with her former Strictly co-star Krishnan Guru-Murthy for Channel 4 News, Abbington claimed there are 50 hours of video footage – from cameras she alleges were installed after she raised concerns during her first week – which Pernice “doesn’t want anyone to see” but have been reviewed by the BBC.

The results of an investigation, launched by the BBC following the allegations, have not yet been published by the corporation.

Last month the broadcaster announced new measures to “strengthen welfare and support” on the show, including a chaperone who would be present during training room rehearsals “at all times”.

The BBC has been approached for comment.