{"id":38817,"date":"2023-10-28T20:30:41","date_gmt":"2023-10-28T18:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1915948"},"modified":"2023-10-29T02:43:36","modified_gmt":"2023-10-29T00:43:36","slug":"strictly-opens-halloween-week-with-message-to-amanda-abbington","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/strictly-opens-halloween-week-with-message-to-amanda-abbington\/","title":{"rendered":"Strictly opens Halloween Week with message to Amanda Abbington"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s the first episode since Abbington has officially exited the competition. <\/p>

By Morgan Cormack\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Saturday, 28 October 2023 at 18:30 PM<\/p>

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It\u2019s another week of Strictly Come Dancing<\/a> and while tonight\u2019s show has brought the delights of Halloween to life, it\u2019s also the first show since Amanda Abbington<\/a>\u2018s exit.<\/p>\n

The Sherlock actress officially exited the series<\/a> earlier this week and opening up tonight\u2019s (Saturday 28th October) show, host Claudia Winkleman was quick to acknowledge it.<\/p>\n

In the opening of the episode, Winkleman stood alongside fellow host Tess Daly and said: \u201cNow earlier this week, Amanda Abbington withdrew from the competition. Amanda, we are sending you all our love.\u201d<\/p>\n

The actress stepped back from the competition, bringing an end to her appearance on the show with professional partner Giovanni Pernice.<\/p>\n

The news was announced on It Takes Two earlier this week on Monday (23rd October) by the show\u2019s co-host Fleur East who said: \u201cWe have just received the news that Amanda Abbington won\u2019t be returning to Strictly Come Dancing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Giovanni\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Giovanni Pernice and Amanda Abbington performing on Strictly Come Dancing 2023<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC\/Guy Levy<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Abbington, who was one of the frontrunners for the Glitterball trophy after consistently scoring highly on the Strictly leaderboard<\/a>, cited \u201cpersonal reasons\u201d for her departure.<\/p>\n

In a\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0posted to her\u00a0Instagram<\/a>, Abbington said: \u201cIt was an absolute joy working with my fellow contestants, they are a beautiful, hardworking and talented group of people who I love and who I will miss seeing every Friday and Saturday and competing alongside.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to thank the incredible production team and everyone on Strictly who looked after me and who are so kind and caring. It\u2019s a wonderful bunch of people and I\u2019ll miss all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n