01 February 2024 , 13:13
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Amanda Abbington has got some new ink on her body as the fallout from her dramatic Strictly Come Dancing exit continues to rumble on.
The Sherlock star, 51, took to social media on Wednesday night to give fans a glimpse of her new tattoo - a design seemingly linked to the search for the loneliest whale in the world.
Amanda - who has reportedly claimed her time on the BBC dance competition left her suffering from PTSD - is delighted with her latest piece of body art, sharing praying hands and love heart emojis as she revealed the etching on her inner arms to her Instagram followers.
The actress, who didn't "gel" with her dance partner Giovanni Pernice, has kept quiet about her Strictly experience since withdrawing from the show in October but often shares cryptic quotes and messages with her 137,000 followers on Instagram - with her new tattoo the latest enigmatic update.
Amanda Abbington and Giovanni Pernice reported clashed while training for Strictly Come Dancing (Instagram/bbcstrictly)
The Sherlock actress has a brand new tattoo almost four months on from her dramatic exit from the show (instagram/@amanda_abbington74)In the snap shared by Amanda's tattoo artist, the mum-of-two's arm can be seen outstretched to reveal her new ink - text reading: "52 Blue". Adding a whale emoji to the image, the star's tattooist artist wrote: "Little one for a lovely client @amandaabbington74." Amanda reposted the Instagram Story and added two praying hands emoji and a pink love heart emoji.
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52 Blue is the colloquial term for an individual whale of unidentified species that calls at the unusual frequency of 52 hertz - more formally known as the 52-hertz whale. 52 Blue's pitch is much higher than other whale species and has been detected in many locations since the late 1980s.
52 Blue appears to be the only individual emitting a whale call at this frequency and although they have been heard multiple times via hydrophones, they are yet to be seen - earning them the title of the "world's loneliest whale". 52 Blue, who lives in the north Pacific, has inspired many artists thanks to their sad story. K-Pop legends BTS released Whalien 52 in 2015, a song about a whale with a "low, calm, and lonely voice" that "can never reach someone else, no matter how hard it shouts".
Some scientists think other whales avoid 52 Blue as 'he is odd' (Shutterstock)However, it's been claimed that the whale, who is almost certainly a male, might not be so lonely after all. "Blue whales, fin whales and humpback whales: all these whales can hear this guy; they’re not deaf. He’s just odd," Christopher Clark of Cornell University, one of the world’s foremost experts on whale communications, told the BBC in 2015.
Ana Širović, associate professor at Texas A&M University at Galveston, agreed with Clark and told The Guardian: "The question is what do these other whales perceive it as? What does it mean to them? Is it strange and something they completely ignore? Or is it something that they understand to be just slightly off from their own signals?"
52 Blue was the subject of one of documentary film-maker Joshua Zeman's recent features, after the Sons of Sam producer became obsessed with the lonely whale's story. In the documentary, entitled The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52, one oceanographer admitted trying to locate 52 Blue was harder than finding a needle in a haystack. After originally fearing the whale had died, researchers managed to track 52 Blue down, with The Guardian reporting in 2021 that the whale is "likely closer to shore off the west coast of the United States – seemingly within reach of Los Angeles."
Amanda, who turns 52 later this month, hasn't offered any further context to her new tattoo or confirmed it is inspired by the whale's tale. It emerged last month that Amanda had reportedly demanded backstage footage of her training sessions with Giovanni from BBC bosses, ahead of possibly taking legal action.
Amanda withdrew from the dance competition due to "medical reasons", but it's since been alleged that the Sherlock actress is mulling over legal advice after suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to her time on the show - implying Giovanni was a tough teacher.
It's thought that the BBC are standing behind Giovanni and won't be pursuing an investigation. "The feeling is he is a tough taskmaster, but hasn't bullied or abused anyone. The BBC see him as a key face of Strictly and will do all they can to support him," a source told the Mirror last month.