Strictly will be back on air despite mistreatment complaints, BBC's director general says

A number of celebrities have spoken out about their negative experiences while performing on the show, as ITV News Entertainment Reporter Rishi Davda reports

BBC director general Tim Davie has apologised over alleged mistreatment of contestants on Strictly Come Dancing but says the show would go ahead.

Mr Davie says: “I’m very sorry that anyone has had a experience on Strictly that hasn’t been wholly positive, I think that is something we do reflect on, and I’m sorry about that.”

The corporation unveiled its annual report on Tuesday amid a storm of negative stories about the culture and treatment of contestants on the flagship programme.

Davie says there will inevitably be “competitiveness, hard work and the will to do well” on the show, “but there are limits and the line should never be crossed”.

“We will never tolerate unacceptable behaviour of any kind.”

Asked if he is confident the show will go ahead this series, he says: “I need to be assured we have the right safeguarding and duty of care in place, and that is the first question I ask.

“I am assured by the robust actions we have taken in terms of the changes we have made … that we are in a position to deliver a very good season this year and that has been my focus.”

The comments come as paralympian Will Bayley became the latest former contestant to speak about his experience on the show.

He says he was made to feel like he was "making a mountain out of a molehill" after complaining about a life-changing injury he suffered on the show, adding that his experience "could have been avoided" altogether with the correct level of support from producers.

Responding to the specific allegations, Davie says: "I think you need to clearly always learn from these things.

"And Will Bayley spoke very eloquently, with a degree of generosity actually, in terms of how he spoke this morning.

"And we clearly need to listen and learn. What I would say is we have a very serious set of processes around the show.

Davie says he believed the BBC has a "very good record" of "delivering entrainment programmes across the board" but that it "needs to consider things seriously but proportionately."

"The door is always open for people to come to the BBC and discuss things that we can do to improve.

"But overall, I think we have the systems in place and processes in place and we keep updating and changing to reflect information as it comes in. But I think we can deliver the show successfully this season. "

During rehearsals in 2019, Bayley suffered a serious injury while performing a jump - something he says he received "no duty of care" for in the aftermath.

Bayley was forced to pull out of the show after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament, which occurred after producers were allegedly told a jump from a table was too dangerous.

He was then forced to undergo reconstructive knee surgery.

He claims that after his injury, Strictly bosses made him feel like it was his fault he had been injured.

Bayley has arthrogryposis, a condition that affects all of his limbs, and was also diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma during childhood.

It comes after a number of celebrities have spoken out about their negative experiences while performing on the show.

Reflecting on the experience, he told BBC Breakfast: “Lessons can be learned, but I’m called being woke if I say something like that, or controversial, which is unbelievable, really.

“But I just think that’s not really a difficult thing to ask, I think it should be a priority.

“If the BBC are brilliant enough to get people with disabilities in, they have to really support those people, make sure that they’re safe.

“And it’s not like I’ve brought this up now, I’ve brought this up in writing as well, and I’ve brought this up many times… It’s just because the other stories have come out that mine has actually got listened to, but I have brought it up before.

“If someone gets an injury like mine, it will affect them for the rest of their life. I’ll never get over this knee injury, I have to deal with that.

“I just want to make a positive impact. If people listen, and try and take on board what I’m saying, it’s to try to get positive out of it rather than just be complaining for complaining’s sake.”

Bayley did however point to the positive experience he had with professional dance partner Janette Manrara, saying: “Janette was incredibly supportive, hard-working.

"She had a will to win, like me. I thought we were an amazing team. I thought we got on so well and we were ultra-professional. We wanted to win and I wanted to win, and we went for the win."

Strictly star Ms Manrara said she “has never received any complaints” about her time on the BBC celebrity show.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for Ms Manrara said on Monday: “Janette had a great time dancing with Will and one of her favourite moments on the show was doing their contemporary couples choice.

“Her celebrity partner’s safety and enjoyment was always the priority throughout her time on Strictly.

“Janette has never received any complaints and has maintained friendships with all her partners, including Will.”

Mr Bayley added: “There are things that could have gone gone better. My fall, my injury could have been avoided, just because I think that maybe professional dancers need extra support in the training hall if you’re working with someone with a severe disability.”

He continued: “If it does help one person from getting a severe injury like mine, that is definitely amazing. I went through a really tough time mentally for about a year afterwards, I could hardly walk. It was so hard to come back from that injury.”

Bayley says he outlined what could be improved in letter to the BBC but was disheartened by the response he received.

“I got a response and I was in a bit of a depression when I read it back. I just found it really depressing. It was kind of like ‘We’ve done everything we can do, and we support you’.

“It felt like I was making a mountain out of a molehill. That’s how I felt that it was.

“I just hope it gets listened to now and some adaptions get made because of my story.”

The table tennis player is the latest star to speak about his experiences on the show following concerns raised about the treatment of contestants Amanda Abbington and Zara McDermott.

Abbington has described professional Giovanni Pernice’s behaviour as “unnecessary, abusive, cruel and mean”. He denies the claims.

Graziano Di Prima left the show last week over allegations about his treatment of Love Island star McDermott.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...