Christa Ackroyd: Strictly Come Dancing will not be the same for me after bullying allegations

Over the years Strictly Come Dancing has been an utter joy. It has also been that rare television event, a programme which everyone could watch together at the actual time of broadcast in a world of streaming and catch up. It was live, shiny, sparkly and fun. The staging was magnificent, the costumes exquisite, the music uplifting and the performances spellbinding. Or downright daft.

The contestants who began as complete amateurs picked up their dancing shoes, worked their socks off and became the ones to watch. They changed before our eyes as the weeks progressed both in skill set, energy and confidence as well as in body shape. There was no doubting their gruelling schedule. It was tough going. And for many an emotional experience.

They wept and we wept with them when their dancing created a moment to remember, often telling a personal story which they shared with us . Rose’s dance when the music stopped to highlight her deafness among my favorites. But I also shed a tear at Len’s farewell, Annabelle Crofts’ beautiful partnership with Johannes less than a year after losing her husband and Will Young’s decision to quit simply because I liked him as a performer and a throughly decent human being, though at the time I thought nothing more than it had all been too much for him .

Strictly was the epitome of family entertainment. In my household over the years I have danced with grandchildren in front of the telly, avoided going out on a Saturday night and spent hours upon hours texting friends as it aired as we became armchair judges. It was the perfect format.

Now, whatever happens between now and the start of the new series the glitter ball is forever tarnished. For me at least. Not just because of the weeks and week of allegations and investigation but because it has made me doubt all we were led to believe was true, that dancing brings people together. It certainly shouldn’t tear them apart. That the smiles and the emotion were genuine. That the partnerships were real and the camaraderie tangible.

Now whatever happens will I ever quite watch it in the same away again? Or will there always be that slight niggle that the joy emanating from my tv screen is not quite as it once seemed?

I have of course read the reams and fears of claims and counter claims. I have also read the many comments from viewers that the celebrities who signed up for the show must have known how tough it was going to be.

And yes they must. Their schedules look impossible. Many continue to work by day, and dance by night to get it right. And that’s seven days a week. The stress and sheer effort it takes has always been obvious. The hours and hours they spend learning new steps, practising new routines are gruelling. But that’s showbiz, we thought. That’s Strictly. Perhaps.

What is not Strictly are the ever growing allegations of bullying, more than that, bullying with nowhere to turn to for help or bullying which it has been claimed was ignored or excused. And while a one off error of judgement can be forgiven, what is now catalogue of alleged grievances now feels like something more sinister. Add them all together and the show is in crisis.

One dancer is gone admitting he kicked a partner. Another has spent weeks vehemently denying the claims of bullying made against him. A disabled athlete says he will have to live with an injury sustained after a dance partner made him re do one dance move after his first attempt was described as ‘ rubbish’ .

And then there is the apology issued during the series five years ago that one of the most revered members of the cast who has gone from professional dancer to judge after describing his partner as looking ‘like a p***’ when she emerged from the tanning booth for which he apologised wholeheartedly. What on earth happened to empathy?

Or at least knowing when to take a break when it is all getting too much ? One thing is clear, whatever the the outcome of the BBC investigations, Strictly is now a show under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. And it doesn’t look good. And it doesn’t feel right.

What saddens me are the steps the BBC are now putting in place to ensure such incidents can’t happen again. There will now be members of the production team in the rehearsal rooms at all times. Two new posts will be created which will be a well signposted route to grievances from either contestants or their dance partners. So why does that sadden me? Or worse still worry me? Because I cannot believe they were not in place already.

Why did it take this slow build up of complaints during the past few weeks and months to realise that there was always the potential for relationships to break down, misunderstandings to happen or at least tempers to fray? Not everyone is as robust as each other.

Not everyone responds well to criticism, constructive or otherwise. If it happens in the workplace up and down the country why would it not happen in the most intense and pressurised competitive atmosphere created for television?

And why is the BBC only addressing it now?

Strictly Come Dancing has always been a wonderful show. But my goodness it has always been pretty obvious that if the production values have to be the best to make it shiny and perfect so too does the management in charge of making it happen.

Will the last few months prove fatal? Will our relationship with it be damaged beyond repair. That remains to be seen. One thing is true. I am certainly not looking forward to it with quite the enthusiasm I have done over the two decades.

Will I watch it? Probably. But if I am being honest the shine has well and truly been rubbed off it. For now at least.