Strictly Come Dancing’s Kevin Clifton predicts the controversies the scandal-hit reality show is now facing in an unearthed interview

Strictly Come Dancing’s Kevin Clifton predicted the controversies the reality show is now facing in an unknown 2021 interview.

This year, Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima were accused of assaulting their famous dance partners. Giovanni strongly denies any wrongdoing, while Graziano, 30, regrets his actions.

Now actor and dancer Kevin, 41, has unwittingly waded into the debate over whether professionals on Strictly are taking things too far.

In a 2021 chat, Kevin was asked by a fan if the interactions between professionals and celebrities changed when he was away from the camera.

Kevin said, ‘Well, there was a famous one before I was on the show, when LuLu got paired with Brendan and she actually said on the show, “Oh no, I didn’t want to get paired with him.” And everyone was like, “Oh, great!”

He continued: ‘It doesn’t happen often, [but] I’ve seen it. I won’t name names, but I’ve seen it with someone who wasn’t happy with their pairing and they made it very clear.

Kevin appeared on Strictly from 2013 to 2019 and found the love of his life in 2018 when he was paired with documentary maker Stacey Dooley.

They won their series and began a romantic relationship the following year. In 2023, their daughter Minnie was born, who is 18 months old.

The resurfaced interview with Kevin follows reports on Saturday that Strictly professionals will be required to undergo weekly psychological tests during the upcoming series, as the scandal-hit show continues to battle allegations of abuse.

Next year’s contestants, which reportedly include TOWIE star Pete Wicks, 36, DIY SOS’s Nick Knowles, 61, and soap star Jamie Borthwick, 30, who won the 2023 Strictly Christmas special, will regularly speak to mental health experts during their time under the glitter ball.

It is believed that blind comedian Chris McCausland, 47, and Death In Paradise actor Ralf Little, 44, will also take to the dance floor in the upcoming series.

And while celebrities may be eager to put on their dancing shoes, Mirror has reported that the new season will include psychological testing to ensure they can handle the mental strain of learning new dances every week.

A source told the publication: ‘It gives them a safe space to voice their concerns, and they feel heard.’

‘And it gives Beeb bosses the ability to monitor how celebrities cope with the pressures of the show.’

This requirement not only provides more protection to celebrities, but also helps support professional dancers.

Their concerns are said to have increased since Amanda Abbington made allegations of bullying about Giovanni.

It comes just days after Strictly Come was plunged into fresh crisis on Wednesday after Amanda claimed Giovannin tried to block the publication of up to 50 hours of “toxic” footage following her bullying complaint to the BBC.

In an emotionally charged interview, the 50-year-old actress compared the dance performance to ‘the trenches’ and said Channel 4 News that BBC producers were ‘shocked’ by clips which also allegedly showed ‘degrading behaviour of a sexual nature’.

The Sherlock star sensationally quit the dance competition last year due to “personal reasons”, before rumours emerged that she had asked for footage of her rehearsals following her experience on the show and her dance partner, which left her with PTSD.

Giovanni, who strongly denies any threatening or abusive behaviour, was later suspended. The BBC subsequently launched an investigation into Amanda and other celebrities’ claims of off-screen misconduct.

However, in a dramatic twist in the Strictly saga, the actress claims Giovanni tried to deny her legal team access to the 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.”

A spokesperson for Giovanni told MailOnline at the time: ‘We urge people to wait for the conclusion of the investigation and not to pay attention to these very serious and defamatory allegations.’

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.

He has consistently denied the allegations and denied all accusations of threatening or abusive behavior.

A spokesman for the dancer said he had handed over a file of evidence to investigators and “is confident his name will be cleared.”

In response to Amanda’s latest interview, a BBC spokesperson said: ‘Everyone involved in a complaint is entitled to confidentiality and a fair process. Therefore, it would not be appropriate to comment further on individuals.’

‘As we have said before, we urge people not to be drawn into speculation. More generally, the BBC and BBC Studios take their duty of care extremely seriously.

‘Our procedures for Strictly Come Dancing are updated every year and continually reviewed, and last week we announced additional steps to further strengthen the show’s wellbeing and support.

The BBC continued: ‘The BBC and BBC Studios take their duty of care extremely seriously… last week we announced additional steps to further strengthen the show’s wellbeing and support.’

Rehearsals for the new series began on Monday and professionals including Johannes Radebe, Amy Dowden and Dianne Buswell had big smiles on their faces despite everything as they arrived at a dance studio in London.