Amanda Abbington all smiles as BBC Strictly co-stars show support amid wait for investigation verdict

Sherlock star Abbington, 52, also had the support of her family as they marked the occasion with her. Her children Joe and Grace were in attendance along with the actress' fiance, Jonathan Goodwin.

Guru-Murthy, 54, shared a snap from the event showing himself, Abbington and actor Les Dennis smiling for a selfie together.

The journalist penned: "Went to see the press night of When it Happens to You starring Amanda Abbington.

"Quite stunning piece of work and a brilliant production that examines that horrific statistic that one in four women here are believed to be the victims of rape or sexual assault."

Went to see the press night of When it Happens to You starring Amanda Abbington. Quite stunning piece of work and a brilliant production that examines that horrific statistic that one in four women here are believed to be the victims of rape or sexual assault pic.twitter.com/Zc5wg5dURF

— Krishnan Guru-Murthy (@krishgm) August 6, 2024

It comes as Abbington has faced a "hard year" after her stint on Strictly Come Dancing last year. The show has been making headlines for months after the mother-of-two decided to quit the series in week five.

She later went on to claim her dance partner Giovanni Pernice, 33, had been "abusive" towards her. A BBC probe into the show was launched and further accusations came out.

Pernice subsequently left the show while his co-star Graziano Di Prima, 30, was axed from the series. Last month, Guru-Murthy sat down to talk to Abbington on Channel 4 about the experience on the show and the cruel trolling she has received ever since.

"You have been having a hard year," Guru-Murthy pointed out as he started his interview with the actress in July. She responded: "Yeah it hasn't been easy. You start to think, well you know, am I going mad?"

In the tearful chat, she continued: "But as you know I am not mad. It's been brutal and relentless and unforgiving. The aftermath has been something that I wasn't expecting."

Abbington described how the abusive messages Pernice fans were sending her had been relentless and that she "was getting dozens a day," which included death threats to herself as well as her family.

Just days ago, Abbington received a terrifying message warning her she would "die on stage" during the current stage show she's starring in unless she withdrew the complaint made against Pernice.

As a result, security at the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park, north London was said to be massively being stepped up.

A friend close to the actress said she has no plans to walk away from the show, and speaking exclusively to GB News, they commented: "Obviously Amanda was horrified when she was told by the theatre that they'd received the threat.

"The theatre quickly called in police, and Amanda has been cooperating fully with detectives, who are confident they can trace who sent it.

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"But Amanda has no plans to walk away from the show. She is absolutely committed to finishing her run in the play, and is determined not to let the haters win.

"Amanda also has no regrets about bringing the complaint about Giovanni to the attention of the BBC. She spoke out because she believes what happened to her was not acceptable and she didn’t want anyone else appearing on the show to go through the same horrendous experience that she alleges to have taken place.

"She knows it has generated a lot of anger towards her, especially from Giovanni’s fans, but she wouldn’t turn the clock back and withdraw the complaint."

Pernice has vehemently denied the accusations made against him, and the results of the BBC investigation are yet to be made public.