The cast of Strictly Come Dancing 2024 will be announced next week amid the ongoing abuse scandal, according to new reports.
Bosses hope the line-up announcement will boost the band’s image and ensure the show, which has been under fire, can go ahead despite the current drama.
According to insiders, ‘all the celebrities’ who signed up for the new series are ‘not affected at all’ by the crisis.
The announcement could be part of the BBC’s ‘rescue plan’ to save the series’ ‘crown jewel’.
According to The mirrorA source said: ‘The entire cast has signed up for this year’s show. Despite reports of a struggle to find candidates, the production has now signed on the dotted line and they are delighted with the celebrity mix and can’t wait to get started.
The cast of Strictly Come Dancing 2024 will be announced next week amid the ongoing scandal, according to new reports
‘Once everyone had signed, they decided they had to push the button and make it official as soon as possible.
‘Once the line-up is out, people will have more to talk about and with a bit of luck the focus will be on the future and not on what happened in the past.’
Strictly Bossen will introduce supervisors during the training and appoint two new welfare producers for the new series, in a bid to ‘tighten’ their duty of care.
A statement from the corporation said: ‘The concerns that have arisen over the past few months have been fundamentally about training and rehearsals. The actions we are announcing today are designed to address that.’
It comes just hours after Amanda Abbington appeared on Lorraine to discuss her ‘horrific’ experience with Strictly and her partner Giovanni Pernice, following her shocking Channel 4 interview.
Giovanni was suspended after Amanda accused him of abusive behavior, saying he was “cruel and mean.” He denies the allegations.
Last month, Graziano Di Prima was fired following reports that he verbally and physically abused Zara McDermott during rehearsals.
It was announced on Wednesday that Nick Knowles, 61, has joined the line-up for the new series.
The show has also reportedly hired blind comedian Chris McCausland to join the series.
In addition to Nick and Chris, Dave Fishwick, 52, is also included in the line-up.
BBC chief executive Tim Davie has vowed a tough approach to cleaning up Strictly and apologised for the “mistreatment” of contestants.
Mr Davie said he would keep the changes to the way the programme is run “under review” and pledged: “We will never tolerate unacceptable behaviour of any kind.”
The BBC chief executive said he was “deeply sorry” to anyone who “had an experience at Strictly that was not entirely positive” and promised to “reflect” on the complaints made.
He said there would inevitably be ‘competitiveness, hard work and a desire to do well’ on the show, ‘but there are lines and that line must never be crossed’. He added: ‘We will never tolerate unacceptable behaviour of any kind.’
Mr Davie said: ‘I need to be sure we have the right safeguards and duty of care in place, and that’s the first question I ask.
“The strong measures we have taken in terms of the changes we have implemented give me the confidence that we can have a very good season this year. That is what I have focused on.”
He continued: ‘With that certainty I look forward to the next season.’
During an interview aired on Wednesday night, Amanda compared the dance show to “the trenches”, telling Channel 4 News that BBC producers were “appalled” by clips that allegedly included “degrading sexual behaviour”.
She also alleged that Giovanni attempted to prevent her legal team from accessing the “50 hours” of video “evidence” after producers were forced to install cameras in the dance studio after Amanda raised concerns.
“There’s 50 hours of footage that’s blocked out. You know, 50 hours is a lot of footage, and a lot of time spent in a room that was toxic,” she told host Krishnan Guru-Murthy.
“It’s out there. There’s evidence of what happened in that room and I’m not the one blocking it. I said everybody can see it, but he (Giovanni) doesn’t want anybody to see it, which is quite telling when he’s got nothing to hide.”
The actress said cameras were installed in her and Giovanni’s rehearsal space after she raised concerns with producers after the first week of rehearsals, who wanted to review the footage every week to assess what was “going on” between the two.
Giovanni claimed he asked for the cameras, but Amanda says this is not true.
“So in the first week I expressed my concerns to the producers,” the actress explained, trying to hold back tears.
“Giovanni said he asked for the cameras, but he didn’t ask for the cameras. I know he didn’t ask for the cameras because the producers came to me and said, ‘We’re going to put cameras in so we can look at the footage at the end of the week, make a review, and see what’s going on.’
‘And then, every Friday, after about five weeks, the producer would say, ‘We just watched the footage, we’re shocked and horrified, we’re so sorry.’
“That was in my face on Friday, when we went in to rehearse with the camera.”
During the interview, Guru-Murthy, who also starred in the 2023 series, asked if it was true that Amanda had experienced “degrading behavior of a sexual nature.” The actress held back tears and nodded in agreement.
“Yeah. I mean, you know, one of the many things,” she said, clarifying that it wasn’t harassment.