Amanda Abbington shares eight-word reason behind Martin Freeman split

Strictly Come Dancing star Amanda Abbington has been through her fair share of heartache, including a devastating split from her former partner and father of her children, Martin Freeman

Before her Strictly Come Dancing woes, Amanda Abbington faced a heartbreaking ordeal that severely impacted her mental health. The actress has now spoken out about the BBC's internal investigation into allegations she made against her former dance partner Giovanni Pernice.

After a six-month probe into Amanda's claims, the corporation concluded that while Giovanni had not been physically abusive, her complaints of verbal bullying and harassment were upheld. Giovanni, who is no longer part of the show, has consistently refuted the allegations and recently expressed his relief on social media that 'it's over'.

In a recent interview with Victoria Derbyshire, the Sherlock star described the past year as one of 'the worst' in her life. Amanda has also previously opened up about another challenging time in her life following her painful split from fellow actor Martin Freeman, best known for his role as Tim in The Office.

The pair first met on the set of the 2000 film Men Only and went on to work together on several projects including The Debt, The Good Night, and The Robinsons. Their on-screen chemistry was particularly noted when they played husband and wife Dr John Watson and Mary Morstan in the popular BBC drama Sherlock, which starred Benedict Cumberbatch as a modern-day Detective Sherlock Holmes.

Amanda and Martin had built a life together in Hertfordshire, where they raised two children, Joe, 18, and Grace, 16. However, their seemingly idyllic union came to an end in 2016, which had a profound effect on Amanda's mental health, reports the Mirror.

She has been open about the split, sharing that they kept it under wraps for six months while still working together on Sherlock. Speaking to The Sunday Times Magazine, she said: "When we broke up nobody knew, we didn't tell anybody except for a few key people because they had to know, because of the logistics of hotels and stuff. It took six months for it to get out and a lot of that was while we were working on Sherlock... We were professional and we were going to get on and make a show and be civil to each other."

She continued: "We still get on really well, we still really both admire each other as actors... he's a great guy, but we just couldn't live with each other anymore."

The mother of two also discussed the impact of the break up on her mental health on the Full Disclosure podcast, admitting she felt like a 'mess' and despised herself.

The situation became so severe that she considered taking her own life.

"It was breaking up with Martin and then realising I needed to sort myself out because I was a bit of a mess. I hated myself," Amanda Abbington shared about her past struggles. The actress went on to detail the tough period post-split, feeling she had let people down and thinking "You could always kill yourself" as an option during hard times.

She recounted, "That was a genuine option for me, quite a few times in my life. Then I don't have to be this bad person because I don't have to be here anymore."

Fortunately, Amanda sought therapy and managed to tackle her troubling feelings. Fast forward, and she's now happily engaged to ex-stunt performer Jonathan Goodwin, whom she connected with on Twitter in 2021.

Despite spending years communicating virtually, their relationship took a serious turn when they met in Vienna and Jonathan proposed instantly. Their relationship was tested following Jonathan's paralysis due to a failed stunt on America's Got Talent: Extreme.

Speaking on Loose Women last year, Jonathan was open about his accident and admitted he would understand if Amanda decided to leave him, but she didn't even contemplate it. Amanda recalls Jonathan suggesting they had 'a lot to talk about', to which she replied: "Unless it's about the wedding, then no, we don't."

She explained that splitting up never crossed her mind, and she was just grateful that he was alive.

Amanda's former partner Martin has turned the page, currently seeing French actress Rachel Benaissa, renowned from her appearance in BBC's literary success Normal People alongside stars Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal. In a fresh Newsnight interview discussing the Strictly fiasco, Amanda revealed that even though a considerable number of her grievances were acknowledged, there remains a 'significant reason' why others weren't, hinting that her camp is delving deeper into the matter.

The conversation also touched on journalist Sarah Vine's recent Daily Mail opinion article about Amanda, citing: "Women like Abbington are part of the reason other women find themselves in genuinely awful and much more serious situations don't get taken seriously."

Amanda was quick to respond, expressing her dismay: "I'm always shocked when women throw other women under the bus for standing up for something they think is wrong but ok."

Amanda discussed the support she's received, saying: "I've had so many women come up to me since making this complaint thanking me for being brave enough to stand up and complain about something that was impacting me in a work situation."

She underscored the broader significance of her actions, "I also did it for the women before me who had gone through the same thing. I'm not the isolated person - it hasn't only happened to me".

Meanwhile, during the segment, Victoria highlighted older remarks from Giovanni who had informed Newsnight: "We are unable to comment any further and the BBC has asked both parties to respect confidentially."

Taking to Instagram on the evening of Sunday, September 30, Giovanni Pernice addressed fans: "It was difficult because, you know, reading stuff that were 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 in today, none of the serious allegations have been upheld. All the threatening, abusive, harassment behaviour allegations have not been upheld."

The BBC responded to the situation with a statement stressing the family-oriented nature of the show: "Strictly Come Dancing is a family show and we rightly expect very high standards. While competition can be tough, rigorous and demanding, we want the show to ultimately be a joyous and transformative experience."

They regretted any negative experiences: "It is a great shame if this hasn't been the case for everyone who has appeared on the show. We have assessed the complaints and we have upheld some, but not all. We want to apologise to Amanda Abbington and to thank her for coming forward and taking part. We know this would not have been an easy thing to do."

For emotional support you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org , visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.