I didn’t feel safe dancing with Amanda Abbington

Mr Pernice claimed Ms Abbington began telling conflicting stories about their training sessions in the first week of the show. He said another famous participant told him she had sent messages to others saying she was happy while thanking Mr Pernice for being an “incredible teacher”.

“I still have (Amanda’s) messages,” he said. “They say, ‘Thank you so much for your patience today, you’re a great teacher,’ so I loved it all.

“Then one of the celebrities came up to me and said, ‘You haven’t had a great week, have you?’ I thought, ‘What are you talking about?’ But Amanda had told them she’d had a terrible week – and that was week one, before the show had even started.

He also said that early on the couple was taken to the show’s producers, who were shocked by the obscenities the dance partners used towards each other.

According to Mr Pernice, Ms Abbington was quick to emphasize that all was well between them and told bosses that she “started it”.

He said: “Amanda was laughing, we were making each other laugh. She said really bad things, like the c-word. She would use it.”

“She’s the person who would start the joke. She told a dark joke. That was the banter we had from the beginning, very rude banter,” he added.