Former Strictly star Amanda Abbington has revealed that she suffered a  cancer scare during her time on the show.

The actress, 50, made the confession just days after it was announced that the BBC had upheld some – but not all – of her complaints against her pro dance partner, Giovanni Pernice.

Amanda has spoken out about her time on the show (Credit: BBC)
Strictly star Amanda Abbington on cancer scare

In a new interview with The Sun, Amanda has revealed that a cancer scare was the “catalyst” that led to her quitting the show.

Amanda left Strictly in week six last year. She missed the fifth week of the competition due to a medical issue.

“By my final week, on the Thursday morning, I was in the shower and I found two lumps. I’d got the all-clear after a mammogram a couple of months before. I went in for rehearsals to do the cha-cha-cha and just couldn’t concentrate.”

Amanda quit in week six (Credit: BBC)
‘It was the catalyst I’d been sort of waiting for’

Amanda then continued.

“I went to the toilet, came back and said, ‘I’m going to go to the hospital now because I found two lumps in my breast this morning’” she then said.

Giovanni then allegedly asked her to let him know how it went.

“It was the catalyst I’d been sort of waiting for, which is terrible,” she then added.

Fortunately, the lumps Amanda found turned out to be benign.

Giovanni broke his silence recently (Credit: BBC)
Strictly dancer Giovanni speaks of relief after Amanda Abbington enquiry

Taking to Instagram earlier this week, Giovanni spoke of his relief that some of the more serious allegations hadn’t been upheld.

“It was difficult because, you know, reading stuff that [was] untrue, wasn’t the nicest time of my life, let’s be honest. But today I’m happy because, you know, at the beginning there were very very serious allegations thrown out at me, but as [of] today, none of the serious allegations have been upheld. All the threatening, abusive, harassment behaviour allegations have not been upheld,” he said.

A spokesperson for Giovanni said: “The BBC concluded its review almost a week ago. It is deeply concerning that Ms Abbington appears to be hellbent on continuously misrepresenting the review’s findings in TV and newspaper interviews.
“Giovanni is focusing on his job on Ballando con le Stella and supporting his partner Bianca, and hopes that Ms Abbington can soon accept the review’s findings and look to the future.”