Strictly's Amanda Abbington makes surprise return to BBC amid Giovanni Pernice's sudden exit

Strictly Come Dancing star Amanda Abbington has returned to the BBC in a surprising move, having quit the dance competition early last year and claiming that her experience on the show left her with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Sherlock star, 52, reportedly demanded to see CCTV footage of rehearsals with her professional partner Giovanni Pernice after leaving the programme, with the BBC reportedly launching an internal investigation into Giovanni's behaviour on the show. In May, Giovanni denied any allegations of "abusive or threatening behaviour" and vowed to clear his name.

After quitting Strictly eight months ago, Amanda has now returned to the BBC to appear in the final episode of dark comedy Inside No. 9. The award-winning series came to an end on Wednesday night, with numerous guest stars returning for the big finale.

Along with the rest of the star-studded cast, Amanda played herself in the meta episode, in which Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton gathered the show's guest stars for one final wrap party. Amanda - who appeared in the series eight epsiode Paraskevidekatriaphobia - joined the likes of Katherine Parkinson, Tim Key, Anne Reid, Nick Mohammed, Tamzin Outhwaite and Mark Gatiss in the episode.

In one of the opening scenes, Amanda walks in on Tim and Katherine - who are playing versions of themselves - in the wrap party bathroom. The tongue-in-cheek series finale sees Reece and Steve play themselves, with Reece finding out that Steve has signed up to star in an Amazon drama and plans on abandoning their plans to develop a new project for the BBC.

Speaking to OK! in an exclusive interview in April, Amanda said that she would "never" do reality TV again after her Strictly experience. She added: "I've had death threats and rape threats because I left Strictly."

Opening up about her exit from the BBC show, she said that she had "always" wanted to make it to the final but dropped out for her "mental and physical health". She added: "My friends have helped me through it. It's been a rough few months."

Earlier this week, Strictly released the professional dancer line-up for its 2024 series, which did not feature Giovanni. It came after reports that Giovanni had 'quit' the show, wanting to make a fresh start.

Inside No. 9 is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.