Amanda Abbington supported by Hollywood actor pal before Strictly after exit
Amanda Abbington was supported by a Hollywood star before the first Strictly Come Dancing show after her exit.
The actress decided to quit the BBC dance competition earlier this week due to personal reasons in a lengthy Instagram statement. She had missed last Saturday's show due to medical reasons. Hollywood actor Simon Pegg has since shared his support to Amanda, just before Saturday's show aired.
Taking to Instagram, the Shaun of the Dead star posted a snap of himself hugging Amanda as he wrote: "Friends for 25 years. Love you." Amanda then re-shared the sweet message to her own account and added: "I love you too dear friend. Thank you for the most wonderful 25 years."
Simon Pegg showed his support to Amanda (amanda_abbington74/instagram)
The actress pulled out of the dance competition earlier this week (PA)Strictly hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman also led a tribute to Amanda at the start of the show. They announced Amanda would not be returning to the 2023 series and wished her well. They said: "Now earlier this week Amanda Abbington withdrew from the competition. We are sending you all our love" as the whole audience applauded.
In her statement, Amanda praised the whole team at Strictly for their love and support but failed to mention her dance partner Giovanni Pernice. She wrote at the time: "It is with deepest regret that I had to leave Strictly. I did not come to this decision easily or lightly but for personal reasons I am unable to continue.
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"It was an absolute joy working with my fellow contestants, they are a beautiful, hardworking and talented group of people who I love and who I will miss seeing every Friday and Saturday and competing alongside. I want to thank the incredible Production team and everyone on Strictly who looked after me and who are so kind and caring. It’s a wonderful bunch of people and I’ll miss all of them."
Concluding her post, she wrote: "I’m so sad that I am unable to go any further. Thank you to everyone who voted and who sent wonderful messages and inspiring support. You are all amazing. Truly. Thank you. xxx." Giovanni also shared a statement as he said: "Amanda .. I am so sad we can’t continue but I am proud of what we achieved and I am sending you so much love @amanda_abbington74 @bbcstrictly."
The following week has seen speculation of a feud between the former dance partners. Giovanni has reportedly been venting his frustration to his friends, and worries the "drama" will have a negative impact on his career. A source told the Daily Star: "This has really annoyed him. He's barely heard from her for 10 days. She hasn’t been replying to messages or telling him what’s happening. He’s been complaining about it to friends. He’s frustrated."
It comes after a source told the Daily Star that Amanda had been "fed up", adding: "The schedule is very gruelling and after a series of setbacks on the show she has simply decided, with regret, that it's the right thing to do." Early on in the competition, rumours had swirled that she wasn't getting on with Giovanni, who attended Saturday's show alone. Amanda's representatives hit back against the reported feud, deeming it untrue.
However Amanda was said to be left feeling miserable over his "aggressive training style and attitude" during their training sessions. A source revealed that Giovanni is a "hard taskmaster and takes the competition very, very seriously". "Sometimes his manner is incredibly brusque and this can upset his partners. Amanda was really looking forward to dancing with him, but has found his aggressive training style and attitude pretty difficult to handle," the insider told The Sun.
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