Laura Whitmore issues second statement accusing BBC bosses of 'gaslighting' her over Giovanni Pernice claims

She recently took to her Instagram account to post a lengthy statement regarding her silence up to that point and said: "I feel there is a lot of misinformation in the press and I want to help and show support by setting the record straight.

"I initially raised concerns back in 2016. I thought my experience was specific to me but I've since learned I was wrong."

She has since issued a new dramatic statement to shed more light on her Strictly experience and told The Irish Post she believes that the industry has changed for women.

Whitmore said of the ongoing Strictly scandal: "The stuff I'm not going to talk to you about now because it's under review, that's all coming out now, was the stuff I tried to speak about eight years ago."

When asked if she wasn't "listened to" when she first raised her complaints, she shared: "Or [I was] gaslit to make it seem normalised. It's a shame that it has to come out in such a victim-shaming way, which it always does.

"And being the first person to speak up about anything is always hard."

Although she hasn't made a formal complaint, Whitmore is hopeful to get "just an acceptance" of what happened to her in the rehearsal room.

GB News has contacted the BBC and Whitmore's representatives for a comment.

Abbington recently sat down with former Strictly co-star and Channel 4 News presenter Krishnan Guru-Murphy to discuss some of the ongoing investigations and alluded to an incident of a "sexual nature".

She added that Pernice is the one who was blocking 50 hours worth of footage being seen through his lawyers, noting how "telling" the move from the 33-year-old was.

Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood recently weighed in on the ongoing scandal of the BBC show, admitting he's "watched" the "Amanda tape" and added he was "blown away" by what he saw.

With just weeks to go until the 20th-anniversary series, Revel Horwood said: "I knew nothing, the judges are very separate when it came out in the press, I was shocked along with all the other judges.

"We have nothing to do whatsoever with their training or how they get there at that point on a Saturday night - we don't see the camera rehearsals on the Friday, so we literally come in on the Saturday, judge what we see for that one minute 30 and it's done."

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

• Brian May shares heartfelt support to Aerosmith star after health blow
• BBC series which 'cost £300million' could be axed after just one series
• Huw Edwards: Teen involved in payment claims breaks silence as he admits 'I feel sick'

He continued to This Morning hosts Josie Gibson and Craig Doyle: "I just want the investigation to be over so I can find out myself the truth - because I have nothing really to say.

"You know, it's really hard to pass judgement or comment on, 'he said this, she said that,' you know? It's really difficult and it has erupted. And of course, I've watched the Amanda tape and all of that sort of stuff and I've just been blown away by the whole situation."

When asked whether he was "surprised and shocked," about the allegations, he added: "Yeah, completely and utterly shocked by the whole situation."

Pernice, 33, has continued to deny the accusations of "abusive" behaviour towards the former Sherlock star but has stepped away from Strictly.