Martin Freeman's fury over Amanda Abbington's Strictly Come Dancing ordeal with Giovanni Pernice

Amanda Abbington has claimed that her ex-husband Martin Freeman wanted to 'kill' her former Strictly Come Dancing partner Giovanni Pernice over his alleged treatment of her

Former Strictly Come Dancing star Amanda Abbington has revealed how her ex-husband Martin Freeman supported her during her testing time on the BBC series.

Amanda, who is now engaged to magician and escapologist Jonathan Goodwin, was partnered with Giovanni Pernice on last year's series of Strictly but withdrew mid-way through the season - later lodging a complaint against the Italian dancer.

An investigation into the actress’s complaints about Giovanni was launched earlier this year, with the BBC upholding "some, but not all" of the allegations made against the professional dancer. Giovanni, who strongly denies all of Amanda's allegations, quit Strictly ahead of the 20th anniversary series launching and is currently appearing on the Italian version of the show.

Speaking in a new interview, Amanda claims her ex-husband Martin, whom she shares two children was furious with Giovanni over his alleged treatment of her. The Office star Martin and Amanda first crossed paths on the set of the 2000 film Men Only and went on to collaborate on several projects over the years, including The Debt, The Good Night, and The Robinsons, with critics noting their dynamic onscreen chemistry.

The former golden couple of British TV also once graced the screen as Dr John Watson and Mary Morstan in the BBC's acclaimed series Sherlock, with Benedict Cumberbatch taking on the iconic role of the modern-day sleuth, Sherlock Holmes. However, the pair called time on their relationship in 2016 and divorced.

Speaking to The Sun, Amanda recalled how her ex-spouse apologised to her during her time on Strictly towards the end of last year. She told the publication: "Martin said, ‘I’m so sorry that you’re having to go through this. This is awful. You don’t deserve it.'. Martin said to me, ‘It’s so unfair, Amanda, because you would always be like, ‘I want to be in that show’. You were so good in it’." The Mirror has approached Martin's reps for comment on this story.

Following Amanda's appearance on Newnight earlier this week, a spokesman for Giovanni said: "It’s disappointing that Ms Abbington would knowingly mislead the outcome of the report in order to further attempt to damage Giovanni’s reputation. While Ms Abbington may not like the outcome of the six-month investigation, she should not seek to spread false and defamatory claims."

Amanda has been candid about the emotional turmoil her split from Martin took on her wellbeing at the time, admitting that they hid their separation for half a year while still filming Sherlock. The duo managed to maintain professionalism and a cordial atmosphere on set amidst their personal struggles.

In a heartfelt interview with The Sunday Times Magazine, she shared: "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 commented: "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 spoke candidly about how the separation impacted her mental well-being on the Full Disclosure podcast, revealing she was a 'mess' and had intense self-loathing. It reached a point where she considered taking her own life. Discussing the aftermath of her relationship with Martin, she said: "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 recalled the despair she felt post-breakup, feeling like a let-down and admitting that her recurring thought was "You could always kill yourself". She opened up: "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."

On a positive note, after beginning therapy, she managed to navigate through her emotional turmoil. She is now ready to marry ex-stuntman Jonathan Goodwin, whom she connected with on Twitter (X) in 2021. The lovebirds first met in real-life Vienna, leading Jonathan to propose almost immediately upon their first face-to-face encounter.

Meanwhile, Amanda's former partner Martin has found new love with French actress Rachel Benaissa, recognizable to some from Normal People, the BBC success story that vaulted Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal into stardom.

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