Workers face a ‘poisonous tradition’ amid claims from Amanda Abbington and Zara McDermott

Oscar joined the Strictly workers when he was 18 anticipating it to be heat and welcoming, like he had seen on TV.

But the truth was very totally different.

As a runner on the present, he was shouted at and referred to as silly, he says. Once, a star screamed at him, getting so near Oscar’s face that he may really feel spit, he tells Daily News News.

“The whole culture was toxic, particularly for junior staff,” he stated.

The row over Strictly in current weeks has centered on celebrities and their skilled dance companions.

The present’s manufacturing workers have been largely forgotten within the debate. These are individuals like runners, who do the unglamorous, lower-paid work. Often, they do not have a voice.

Daily News News has spoken to fifteen present and former members of workers on the present about its tradition behind the scenes. All wished to stay nameless for concern of profession repercussions.

Some advised a optimistic story of dancers and workers who have been form and respectful to them. But others painted an image of a office through which staff have been bullied and junior workers have been shouted at by skilled dancers.

“I think it’s awful for the celebrities who suffered, but I think for the crew it’s a much bigger problem,” a former TV package deal editor on Strictly, Jane, advised us.

A Daily News Studios spokesperson stated they do not recognise the claims, nor will “hundreds of production personnel” who’ve labored throughout the 20 years the present has been on air.

They apologised if anybody did not really feel in a position to increase their experiences on the time, including: “The welfare and safety of our crew on each series has always been, and remains, our utmost priority.”

The dance world is famous for its intense training, and exacting standards.

With Strictly, you have a weekly national TV show, which involves tight deadlines and the need to have a dance routine perfected by Saturday night.

When you put those two things together, you can see why it might result in a pressure cooker environment.

Jane worked on Strictly’s spin-off show, It Takes Two. The same crew shot the packages for Strictly as for It Takes Two, so she would hear of what was going on on both shows.

“When you’re in the edit suite, you’re like a therapist,” she told BBC News.

“Crew would come in and tell me about their experiences as we cut their .”

Jane says junior staff would say they’d experienced “verbal abuse” from some of the dancers, including “shouting, screaming and being insulted, to an extraordinary level”.

“Whatever mood the dancers were in, would dictate how your day would go,” she said.

BBC Studios noted that Jane’s testimony is based on rumour, which, it said, “is not unusual in the industry, particularly around successful long running shows”.

But what Jane overheard is echoed by Oscar’s actual experiences.

“Producers would be drinking and partying, while everyone else was running around stressed out,” he said.

On one occasion, he asked someone for a handover, but says he was called “stupid” for asking. “It was bullying behaviour,” he said. “I felt sick, and couldn’t sleep or eat.”

Oscar says his worst experience involved one of the celebrity contestants on the show.

He describes them as flying into a rage when he passed on simple instructions to them before a show. He says nothing he did would appease the celebrity.

“He was shouting and he was so close up in my face, I had to close my eyes as his spit flecks were hitting me,” he said.

“The fact it was in front of everyone made me feel awful and helpless. People were stopping in the corridor to catch a glimpse of what was happening.”

The celebrity later apologised to him. But Oscar said it never should have happened in the first place.

“I remember thinking that this was it, and I couldn’t take it anymore,” he added. “It was the final straw for me.”

Oscar left the show shortly after.

Strictly – with its bright lights, sparkles and sequins – has been running for almost 20 years.

But recently, the shine has come off the show.

A number of former celebrity contestants – including Amanda Abbington, Zara McDermott and Laura Whitmore – have made allegations about the way they were treated on the show.

Paralympian Will Bayley has also spoken out about his experiences, after he was injured following pressure to do a jump.

And what we have heard from former production staff, indicates there could be a wider problem with the workplace culture.

Others have described more positive experiences. A choreographer who we’re calling Katie, who still works on the show, told us she loves it.

“I have never ever seen any of what is being reported,” she said.

“I have never had an issue with any dancers or staff, I love them and they are very kind and respect me lots.”

A beautician, Laura, who has been on the show for eight years, also said she had never seen any bullying.

She said she was “shocked” to hear some of the allegations, and that they made her “a bit apprehensive” about going back.

In July, Sherlock actress Abbington revealed she had first raised concerns with Strictly producers on her third day in rehearsals.

The BBC has said it takes issues “extremely seriously”, while Abbington’s dance partner Giovanni Pernice has denied “any claim of threatening or abusive behaviour”.

But production staff we have spoken to have also flagged issues with raising complaints.

Oscar never complained about what was going on, because he said he felt he wouldn’t be listened to.

“Unless you were a production executive or one of the producer’s friends, you weren’t empowered to raise issues,” he said.

In response, BBC Studios told us it was “sorry” if Oscar didn’t feel able to speak up about his experiences.

It said that using its initiative The Pledge on all its productions, including Strictly, “we proactively encourage everyone on set to raise concerns of inappropriate behaviour via several avenues, including anonymously to an external third-party whistleblowing service independent of the BBC/BBC Studios.”

But other former runners, also speaking to us anonymously, have painted a similar picture.

Anika, who was a runner in the earlier runs of the show, joined the show to get work experience. She was initially excited to get the job, but she quickly found the work environment “exhausting”.

“There was a lot of shouting backstage,” she advised Daily News News.

She stated one of many male dancers, who has since left the present, handled individuals “in an insane way. The way he spoke to women, including female dancers and junior staff, was disgusting and chauvinistic. We’d be warned about working with him”.

She additionally stated she didn’t really feel she may increase points.

“I was a nobody, a little runner, I didn’t think I could complain,” she stated.

Anna, not her actual title, was a runner on a Strictly Christmas particular. She stated members of the manufacturing workforce would “lose their tempers” at extra junior workers.

She stated typically junior individuals did not really feel they might report issues as they felt nervous of profession repercussions.

Robert – additionally not his actual title – labored on Strictly within the earlier runs of the present.

As a choreographer, he says he spent hours refining actions and perfecting routines. He says producers would get irate and shout at him if even the smallest factor went improper, however he felt “afraid” to say something again.

“I left of my own accord and wish there was something or someone I could have spoken to about my concerns.”

Strictly is a massively prestigious present to work on, particularly for these early on of their careers.

Over 35% of the workforce who’ve labored on the present for greater than 5 years have been promoted. The present presently has collection producers, collection editors, senior producers, producer/administrators, manufacturing managers and assistant producers who all began as runners and labored their manner up.

But individuals we have spoken to have stated that Strictly’s dominant place within the leisure world is definitely a part of the issue.

“There’s a sense that you’re lucky to be on the show as it is one of the biggest in the UK, so you should put up with all the problems you might face,” Robert advised us.

That’s one thing Jack, who labored on the present as a runner, additionally alleges.

He described an incident the place a runner was requested to wash one of many dressing rooms. He says the producers advised them they “should be lucky just to be on the show”.

“I guess the problem is that [Strictly is] so big and so valuable to the BBC, one of their main money makers, those who are running the production feel untouchable,” he stated.

Jack stated the vibe was “all about the glitz and glamour and no care for those making the show”.

The entire expertise made him need to go away TV for some time.

For the Daily News, there is no doubt the entire saga has been damaging.

Last month, its director normal Tim Davie apologised to Strictly contestants and warned that the present’s professionals shouldn’t cross the road between being aggressive and “unacceptable behaviour”.

Following these newest allegations from manufacturing workers, Daily News Studios stated it “does not recognise” the claims, “nor will hundreds of production personnel who have worked with us through multiple series and across the two decades the show has been on air.”

It added: “We act speedily when any issues are raised, and have thorough, effective, and longstanding processes to manage them – and we’re sorry if anyone didn’t feel able to talk about their experience on-set at the time.”

Some might argue that the stories coming to light are just part of the rough and tumble of TV.

But that’s something people we’ve spoken to reject.

“I don’t think the rough and tumble of TV is a thing anymore. The world has moved on, it shouldn’t be happening,” stated Anika.

Mr Davie, for his half, has insisted the present will return as deliberate this autumn.

And this week, the Daily News has began asserting the movie star line-up for the 2024 collection.

I requested Jane whether or not she thinks the present will survive.

“I think the BBC won’t let it disappear,” she stated.

“But there needs to be change. It can’t go on like this.”