Strictly star Laila Rouass has broken her silence on her partnership with Anton Du Beke following claims about his past behaviour.
The pair danced together on the 2009 series of Strictly Come Dancing. Recently, Anton’s name was dragged into the ongoing scandal surrounding the show.
Anton’s past comments have resurfaced recently. Reports claimed that Laila had made a complaint to the BBC over Anton. During their time on the show, Anton jokingly made a racial slur about her after she had a spray tan on the show.
At the time of the incident, Anton publicly apologised to Laila and said he felt “stupid” and “embarrassed” by his comment.
Laila Rouass statement on Strictly
In a new statement shared to her Instagram on Sunday (July 28), Laila addressed Anton’s remark and apology.
The Footballers’ Wives star said: “There has been much speculation over the last couple of weeks about alleged complaints I have made to the BBC regarding my time on Strictly.
“I had no intention of making a statement but now feel it’s necessary as over the last couple of weeks there have been false accusations, online abuse and harassment aimed at me and my family.”
Laila gushed that she has “always loved Strictly” and felt thrilled to join the show.
Laila has issued a statement on her Strictly experience today (Credit: ITV)
Anton and Laila on Strictly
She said when she became paired with Anton, she “knew I was in safe hands”. She said: “Anton and I rehearsed 7 days a week for approx 6/7 hours a day. At no point did I feel pressured by Anton or the producers to add more time to rehearsals.”
Laila continued: “Unfortunately my time on the show was scarred by a handful of incidents, some of which were discussed in the press at the time.
I had no intention of making a statement but now feel it’s necessary.
“Yes, Anton used derogatory words and it was unacceptable. Yes Anton publicly apologised to me. Above all this and, most importantly, I do not believe Anton is racist or islamophobia.
“If I believed he was, I would have refused to dance with him. I wish to make clear, apart from the situation mentioned above which was dealt with, at absolutely no point was I physically, emotionally, sexually or verbally abused by Anton.”
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