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Virgin Radio
25 Jul 2024, 11:06
Credit: Rex
Loose Women star Denise Welch has defended her experience on Dancing on Ice amid the ongoing TV competition scandal surrounding Strictly Come Dancing.
The question over the welfare of celebrities on shows like Strictly and DOI has come to light as the BBC dancing competition struggles against allegations of “bullying” behind the scenes.
Strictly 2023 contestant Amanda Abbington was the first to share her claims of bad backstage behaviour, and since then, her pro partner Giovanni Pernice has left the series, as has fellow professional dancer Graziano Di Prima following allegations made on behalf of his celeb partner Zara McDermott.
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Since the allegations of “nasty” and “abusive” behaviour have come to light, the BBC has implemented “additional steps to strengthen welfare”, including introducing chaperones during rehearsals and more training for production teams.
Denise knows the world of TV competitions all too well, having taken part in the sixth series of Dancing on Ice in 2011, and during an exclusive chat with virginradio.co.uk today (25th July) about her new campaign with EE, she gave her take on the changes being made on Strictly, while also praising her time on the ice.
She told us: “I feel sorry for Strictly because, as we all know, it's been a staple of our Saturday night, and I know several people who have performed in it, and I know several of the dancers. Obviously, I cannot possibly comment on anybody who's come forward and said that there's been unfortunate times for them. I hope that they can resolve it.
“I had a completely and utterly different experience on Dancing on Ice, and Dancing On Ice is hard! I was 52 when I did it, and you're on scary ice. But put it this way, I'm still best friends with my partner, Matt Evers, who is best friends with all of his partners. So this is not just across the board.
Alluding to claims potentially being made about Dancing on Ice, she claimed: “There's a lot of people jumping on bandwagons, but if people say that they have been abused, if women say they've been abused, or men, we have to take their complaints seriously, and the BBC have to do their due diligence, which I hope that they are doing. I hope it can be resolved, because I think it would be a big miss.”
Whether all telly shows, including Loose Women, should increase their welfare for not just stars but also the professionals they work with, Denise added: “I think everybody should be looked after. I’m very used to working on a show where the press, usually the misogynistic press, are always saying that we work in a toxic environment, because we're women. If we were four men, they would be having a passionate debate, but we're having a cat fight.
“I wouldn't work in a toxic environment. I go to work very happy every time I do Loose Women. I love the girls there. We're celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary."
She continued: “I think that we just have to wait for the outcome, and hopefully, as I say, they'll all do their due diligence, and lessons can be learned and we can move forward from it. But if people say they've been badly treated, they must be listened to.”
Denise was chatting to us about her new campaign with EE and their new Scam Guard, after she lost “thousands” from her credit card after being scammed by a phone call pretending to be from her bank.
After giving out her details on the phone - to a number that came up as ‘Barclays' - she quickly had her card cloned, and it’s now caused her to be more cautious than ever.
Of her terrifying experience of losing money to scam artists, Denise shared: “It was my credit card and I was refunded my money, but not everybody is as lucky as me. But it has taught me, under no circumstances, would anyone ever ask you for your pin number. You cannot now trust, sadly, that even if it comes up under one of your official banks or building society or whatever names, that you can trust them.
“This is why I’m working with EE and their digital campaign Scam Guard, because what they're doing is they are working on the dark web. They are detecting these calls before they get to you, and it does help you sleep at night, because prior to that, there's no one out there monitoring the cause, and some people are so vulnerable.”
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