Amanda Abbington and Strictly.

[PriamFarrl]

I never watch Strictly, but it seems that her being on it is causing some conflict.

I did a quick look but couldn’t see a thread.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/tv/strictly-come-dancing-fans-divided-27466760?fbclid=IwAR1iNqoQHvU6tlsap3W1iWz7oG81Sp0Qimp81rzzd5XAU9fB4NLm_LgE47w_aem_AWkW94vOg0i7vw4ncasDUMNwbDACoxFIhz_Dsisy4LT9Nv0k-aEB-k7pqbT5hptMzeU#ll00z8fhy5yfgk5qz3

Interesting to see that the comments on Facebook articles about this by random media outlets like 'Devon Live' are overwhelmingly positive towards her and her expression of a legitimate viewpoint.

She's an intelligent and successful actress. Delighted to see her speaking her mind on an issue she knows about.

I’m not sure they were married, although they were together for quite a long time. There was some kerfuffle about them arguing about her bankruptcy, but I’ve no idea if that contributed to their split.

this Strictly thing is infuriating. I’m angry that she’s had to call her perfectly reasonable comments about what a woman is ‘ill-informed’ and say she’s ‘educated’ herself.
Ive no doubt she made that statement under duress.

IIRC they were never married and when she was going bankrupt there was a big to do about the fact that he wasn’t stepping in to bail her out - given his high Hollywood profile. In the end I think he did pay off her debts.

I don’t know if it contributed to their split, they cited the fact he’d spent so long away from home while filming The Hobbit as an issue, but you’ve got to be a special kind of douche bag not to want to financially help out your long term partner and mother of your children.

Whether she was financially reckless/naive or just had bad advice, who knows.

Thanks @MarkWithaC and @CaveMum .

I think Freeman is one of those guys who cultivated a "nice" image due to his role on The Office but I've got to say that from the little I've seen in interviews and chat shows he comes across as a total entitled prick. And the guy is making Hollywood films and doesn't want to pay off his kid's mum's debts? Absolute knobhead 🙄

I completely agree @BetsyBobbins

Was good to see in the earlier articles that they talked about her children supporting her.

Well hope that's true.

She needs a supportive home live in the face of this orchestrated and totally unecessary pile on.

That sounds just like the things people say about JKR and KJK so I had to look it up. As usual, it's nonsense from the Graun.

"An article referred to Ann Widdecombe “when she was prisons minister, responsible for keeping pregnant women shackled during labour and all that”. In fact Widdecombe had inherited a policy of securing pregnant women, which she defended in 1996. However, in doing so, Widdecombe made clear it was never policy to secure women in labour or childbirth, and she never suggested that this should happen. We are happy to make that clear and apologise for the mistake (Digested week, 20 May, p29)."

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2023/jun/15/corrections-and-clarifications

So according to Amanda, people with penises are women. She seems to be massively confused about this whole thing.

She’s not confused, she’s being bullied - again

the BBC must be loving this! Publicity plus the opportunity for their TRA employees ti enjoy a middle aged woman being publicly and lengthily scolded while she grovels

I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but I could almost believe they booked her knowing full well her views just to sit back, enjoy the witch hunt and reap the publicity rewards. Virtually the whole of the Strictly team is composed by gay men and people who are in the TWAW bandwagon, Jason Gilkinson especially.

Quite @BetsyBobbins there’s no way they didn’t know her views.

in fact id lay pretty heavy odds they’ll have a drag queen in the line up as well

She is reiterating other GC views in her other posts though, so why is she being made to apologise by BBC only on this point? Plus she has thanked/liked comments from several openly GC people on her posts. If she has been silenced she wouldn’t be interacting with such people. It doesn’t look like her apology was made under any duress and this is truly her view.

God only knows @Booklover28 none of this makes any sense

Its really hard when comments are made on selected out screen shots as screen grabs. Not only are they hard to read, but are not in context. Is it not possible to post the links to the posts so we can see what the discussion actually was?

All I can tell from the last screen shot is that she is concerned predatory men are exploiting self identity. As I would have thought most of us were.

And she goes on to say she supports both trans and women's rights. And believes women need women only services.

And quite honestly, in these sort of circumstances whether her political analysis of trans vs. women's rights directly aligns with mine isn't the point.

She is a public figure who has made public statements about women's rights, and how drag queen performances aren't age appropriate for young children.

And yet trans twitterati have gone over the top in objecting to her being invited onto the programme, and the MSM have managed to turn this into some huge blow up.

I really doubt that most genuine Strictly fans know or care!

(There's an article in the Independent that headline makes it seem this is a huge issue but if you read the article it seems just not that important. But what it does imply is she had a lucky escape from MF. Although, in terms of the programme it turns out she did train as a dancer. Is this allowed. I thought it was about celebs learning from scratch. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/amanda-abbington-strictly-controversy-drag-transphobia-b2389652.html)

Lots of previous celebs have had dance backgrounds. The most notable being the lovely Debbie McGee who was a working ballet dancer for several years before moving into magic shows. That was 40 odd years ago though. Many of the other actors and actresses have had stage school level of dance training. The pop stars have also had varying levels of dance related performing. But yet some of the best dancers are those with zero dance training, like Kelvin Fletcher, or Mark Wright, who both just had a natural talent.

Amanda Abbington was a dancer when she was a child and a student. She's never worked professionally as a dancer, and hasn't danced for probably 20 years or more.

I want to support her taking part, regardless of whatever messages she puts out now in order to try to placate the baying mob and keep her current job.

Exactly @RoseslnTheHospital. I can’t believe some people (not here) are attacking Amanda’s previous ballet experience as a child/teen when one of the other contestants (Layton Williams) has performed in the lead role in Billy Elliot in the West End! To paraphrase the late-great Len Goodman, if you cut him in half he’d have “Ringer” written through him like a stick of rock!

Isn’t Angela Rippon also a professional dancer? Or am I making that up after seeing her dance on Morecambe & Wise (or The 2 Ronnies!)?

'Lots of previous celebs have had dance backgrounds'

Absolutely. The 'previous dance experience ' thing is a total non-story. It's probably hard to find actors and singers who don't have any dance experience. I'm fine with it because it means you don't end up with 15 contestants who 'dance' like Ann Widdicombe 🤦🏻‍♂️

@risefromyourgrave sge was never a pro but did ballet as a child/teen and was also a presenter on Come Dancing, as well as the infamous Morecombe & Wise sketch!

Ah right, thanks!

I just asked about previous dance experience as I dont watch Strictly, and had somehow assumed that was what it was about.

To show that with some training most, if not all, people could learn to dance.

So not only am I going to have to learn the rules of voting, I probably need to learn the rules of the show.

I hope the judges are fair!

The thing is that ballroom and Latin dances are really different to other forms of dance. Being a ballet dancer is a help but doesn't necessarily mean you'll get your head around a Charleston or a paso doble.

Being an athlete like the sportspeople that take part is an advantage because they can cope with the physical demands of training. Being a musician has an advantage because it makes it easier for them to follow the music and notice the rhythms. Being an actor has an advantage because they can perform and sell the act to the audience.

The ones who really struggle, unless they have natural talent, are the presenters, the politicians, etc. as they don't have any obvious transferable skills. It's also partly a popularity contest - the best dancers often don't win the whole thing due to the public vote being given priority over the judges scores.

This.
I'm a huge SCD fan anyway, watch every year and get really into it, always go to the tour too.
I'll still vote for my favourite, but of my three free votes, they'll go to Amanda.

Completely agree.

I hope Amanda is good but even if not, I'll be voting for her!

Pity she’s being made to repent but anyone in show biz who doesn’t fall in line here are either thick or brave. It’s a career killer and I thought maybe she had fuck you money after breaking up with Freeman but if they were never married I’m assuming she’s as gig to gig as most actors.

That said I can’t imagine most Strictly viewers giving a toss so I hope she comes across well and goes a long way. Would keep me in clown tears for a while