Amanda Abbington relieved when health scare gave her a reason to quit BBC Strictly Come Dancing

Amanda Abbington was relieved when a cancer scare gave her a reason to quit Strictly Come Dancing, she has shared in a new interview. The actress left the BBC One dance show in week five last year citing personal and medical reasons and later issued a formal complaint against professional partner Giovanni Pernice.

The Sherlock star has previously made accusations about the teaching methods of Giovanni during their time working together on the dance programme.

It later emerged she'd made a formal complaint about Giovanni, who has since left the hit dance programme as he refuted any claims of wrongdoing following her claims of "unnecessary, abusive, cruel and mean" behaviour.

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The review into Amanda's complaints about her professional dance partner was launched earlier this year and last Monday (September 30) she was given an apology by the BBC after it confirmed it had "upheld some, but not all"

But she's now revealed she was also dealing with a health issue at the same time after finding lumps in her breast. She told The Sun on Sunday newspaper: "By my final week, on the Thursday morning, I was in the shower and I found two lumps. I'd got the all-clear after a mammogram a couple of months before. I went in for rehearsals to do the cha-cha-cha and just couldn't concentrate...."

She added: "It was the catalyst I'd been sort of waiting for, which is terrible. But that's what I was thinking, that it was a healthier option than being in that room. I've championed breast cancer charities but there was a part of me that was like, 'OK, I have to deal with this now instead. Phew'."

Amanda - who was later told the lumps were benign - told how well as having support from her fiance Jonathan Goodwin and her two children, Amanda also had the backing of her former partner and fellow actor Martin Freeman.

The BBC said as it concluded its report: "We have assessed the complaints and we have upheld some, but not all, of the complaints made. We want to apologise to Amanda Abbington and to thank her for coming forward and taking part. We know this would not have been an easy thing to do.

"At the time, although the production team took steps to address the issues as they understood them, ultimately these were not enough. This is why the measures we have taken to further strengthen our existing protocols are so important."

In a written statement, a spokesperson for Giovanni said: "We are pleased that this six-month review has not found any evidence of threatening or abusive behaviour by Giovanni. Giovanni is relieved that the overwhelming majority of allegations out to the BBC have not been upheld and looks forward to continuing his work on Dancing With The Stars in Italy this season."