Just hours before the bombshell news was announced that Amanda Abbington has quit Strictly, her fiancé shared a cryptic message on Instagram.
It was announced yesterday that Abbington had withdrawn from Strictly Come Dancing, leaving her professional partner, Giovanni Pernice dancing solo in the ballroom.
On Saturday night, presenters Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly announced that she would not appear on Saturday night’s show, but ‘would return all being well next weekend’.
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However on Monday night, Fleur East announced on It Takes Two, a side-show to Strictly, that she would no longer be returning to the competition.
In a statement, a spokesperson of the show said: “Amanda Abbington is unable to continue in Strictly Come Dancing and has decided to withdraw from the competition.
“The show wishes her all the best for the future.”
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It has been rumoured that the Mr Selfridge actor left the competition due to ‘setbacks’, and she posted this short statement to her Instagram story on Saturday morning: “People don't fake depression... They fake being okay. Remember that. Be kind."
She was previously dating her Sherlock co-star, Martin Freeman, but is now engaged to Jonathan Goodwin, who is paralysed from the waist down after an act that went wrong on America’s Got Talent.
After being friends on social media with Abbington for over 10 years, within the first 30 minutes of meeting her he proposed.
Talk about diving right in!
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Well, amidst the Strictly drama, her husband-to-be shared an indirect message on his Instagram on Monday morning before Abbington's departure was announced.
Along with a selfie, the cryptic message said: “We can be so hard on ourselves...be our own worst critics... But before you judge yourself... make sure your mirror is clean.”
Another spanner in the works was a rumoured feud between the actor and her dancing partner, but they quickly shut down those rumours with Janette Manrara on It Takes Two.
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She asked the pair: “It honestly looks like you two are having the best time in rehearsals, getting along like a house on fire in rehearsals right?"
Amanda replied: “Yeah we are, we are!
“We do and we laugh a lot, we have the same sense of humour which is really important. So we'll come out, work hard, and then we'll just laugh, won’t we."
Topics: Strictly Come Dancing, BBC
Mia Williams