Strictly's Amanda Abbington's worrying admission about Martin Freeman split

23 October 2023 , 15:55

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Strictly's Amanda Abbington's worrying admission about Martin Freeman split

Amanda Abbington has reportedly quit Strictly Come Dancing after missing last weekend due to 'medical reasons'. According to The Daily Star, the actress has walked away from the BBC dance competition because she is 'fed up'.

Amanda has been a staple on our screens for many years, starring in hit shows like Mr Selfridge and Cuffs. And fans of the hit BBC show Sherlock were devastated to see the on-screen relationship between Amanda and Martin Freeman's characters end in tragedy. But what many may not know is that the off-screen relationship between the two also came to a heartbreaking end.

The couple first met in 2000 while working on the film Men Only and went on to star in several other projects together including The Debt, The Good Night, and The Robinsons. They even had two children together and lived together in Hertfordshire, but their partnership ultimately came to an end in 2016.

The pair continued to work together on Sherlock despite being broken up (Getty Images Europe)

Amanda and Giovanni on Strictly (BBC/Guy Levy)

Amanda, 51, recently opened up about the split, revealing that they kept it a secret for six months while continuing to work together on Sherlock. Despite the heartbreak, the two remained professional and civil towards each other on set. She said to The Sunday Times Magazine: "When we broke up nobody knew, we didn't tell anybody except for a few key people because they had to know, because of the logistics of hotels and stuff. It took six months for it to get out and a lot of that was while we were working on Sherlock... We were professional and we were going to get on and make a show and be civil to each other."

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She added: "We still get on really well, we still really both admire each other as actors... he's a great guy, but we just couldn't live with each other anymore." The mum-of-two has since spoken about the toll the break-up took on her mental health, telling the Full Disclosure podcast that she was a 'mess' and was left 'hating herself'. Things got so dark for the star that she even contemplated suicide.

"It was breaking up with Martin and then realising I needed to sort myself out because I was a bit of a mess. I hated myself," she explained. Amanda went on to recall how after the split she was left feeling like she'd let people down and her mantra soon became "You could always kill yourself". She continued: "That was a genuine option for me, quite a few times in my life. Then I don't have to be this bad person because I don't have to be here anymore."

After the breakup, Amanda began therapy and was able to overcome her past emotional struggles (Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Amanda has won a new army of fans (PA)

Amanda's life has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride. Thankfully, she started therapy and was able to overcome her past emotional struggles. She's now happily engaged to former daredevil Jonathan Goodwin, whom she met on Twitter back in 2012. After talking online and over the phone for years, the pair finally met in person in Vienna and Jonathan proposed within minutes of meeting her.

However, their love story was dealt a brutal blow when Jonathan was left paralyzed after a stunt went terribly wrong on America's Got Talent: Extreme. But Amanda stood by his side through thick and thin. Recently, the couple appeared on Loose Women where Jonathan opened up about his accident and how he would have understood if Amanda had walked away from their relationship. But she never even considered it. Amanda recalled that when Jonathan said they had "a lot to talk about", her response was simply: "Unless it's about the wedding, then no, we don't." She added: "Breaking up never flashed through my mind. I just thanked God he was alive."

She is currently competing in this year's Strictly Come Dancing with dance partner Giovanni Pernice. But as for Amanda's ex Martin, he has also moved on with his life and is currently dating actor Rachel Mariam. Fans may recognize her from her role in BBC's Normal People, alongside Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal.

Frances Kindon