Actress Amanda Abbington has said she is not “transphobic” following a social media storm over her becoming part of the Strictly Come Dancing line-up.
The 49-year-old Sherlock star, who was the first contestant announced for the BBC celebrity dancing show last week, told her Instagram followers that she thinks the backlash is over her comments in March about a child performing a drag act.
In the video, she said: “I’m sorry if you feel like you need to boycott Strictly for a tweet I made about a drag show but I don’t think 12-year-olds should be doing overly sexualised drag acts.
“That’s my personal opinion, that’s all. I’m not pushing it on anyone else, I’m just saying that’s how I feel.
“I didn’t associate (the tweet) with the trans community nor would I. I’m an ally of the LGBT community and I’m an ally of women’s rights and I’m an ally of kids being kids, and I’m an ally of live and let live.”
Abbington also said that that she “loves drag queens” and thinks the performance art is an “amazing form of entertainment” which is “brilliant and hilarious”.
“My son played Jamie in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and he was a wonderful drag queen, he was wonderful in it,” she added.
She shares two children – son Joe and daughter Grace – with her former long-term partner and Sherlock co-star Martin Freeman.
Abbington, who said she went off Twitter, now called X, due to the atmosphere of the social media network, also said: “I’m not transphobic, I’m not a transphobic person, I am a firm supporter of the legitimate trans community, I always have been.
“I think they have been infiltrated by some people who want to cause damage and want to cause trouble, and pit people off of each other and cause as much harm as possible.
“But I would support any trans person who is feeling persecuted or not listened to, or not seen, of course I would. I’m not a nasty person.
🪩 Ready to take centre stage on #Strictly our first celebrity of 2023 is actress Amanda Abbington!
👉 https://t.co/axyiVet8yF pic.twitter.com/9f5sksKMeg
— BBC Strictly ✨ (@bbcstrictly) August 4, 2023
She also spoke about an “ill-informed” and “stupid comment” a few years ago that led her to doing research after an “apology”.
Abbington said: “I think everybody needs to look after each other a bit more and not go after each other in a negative and horrible way.
“I’ve said stupid things, of course I have, and (I) instantly regretted them. Everybody is learning. We need to take a breath and take a beat.”
She received support from actress and 2009 Strictly competitor Laila Rouass, who said Abbington always chooses “love”.
The cast announced, so far, for this year’s celebrity dancing competition also includes broadcaster Angela Rippon, Channel 4 News presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy, presenter Angela Scanlon, Bad Education star Layton Williams and comedian Eddie Kadi.
In 2022, British wildlife presenter Hamza Yassin lifted the glitterball trophy alongside professional dancer Jowita Przystal.
Strictly Come Dancing returns to screens this autumn and will be judged by Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke, Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse.