Amanda Abbington hits back at transphobia accusations after joining Strictly Come Dancing lineup

‘Sherlock’ actor was the first celebrity to be announced as a competitor in BBC dance programme

Amanda Abbington has denied claims that she is transphobic ahead of her taking part in the forthcoming series of Strictly Come Dancing.

The Sherlock actor was recently revealed as the first of several celebrities to be taking part in the long-running ballroom dance competition show.

Others who are set to compete in the BBC programme this autumn are broadcaster Angela Rippon, actor Layton Williams, Channel 4 News anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy, and comedian Eddie Kadi.

Since Abbington’s announcement, some potential Strictly viewers have expressed concern over her involvement in the series following her tweets earlier this year about drag queens.

In March, Abbington, 49, reacted to footage from a baby sensory and cabaret show aimed at parents and their infants from birth to two years old.

Sharing the video of a performance, the actor wrote that it was “not for babies” and added that “if you think it is, there is something fundamentally wrong with you”. After receiving backlash from people who disagreed with her take, Abbington left Twitter and has remained off the platform ever since.

On Sunday (6 August), Abbington shared a video on Instagram responding to questions about her involvement and her opinion of drag performers.

“Now, I need to make this clear – I love drag. I think it’s an amazing form of entertainment and I f***ing love drag queens, I think they’re hilarious and brilliant and it’s an art form,” she began.

“And I think there’s absolutely a place for it in the entertainment industry. My son played Jamie in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and he was a wonderful drag queen. He was wonderful in it.

“But, my tweet back in March was regarding a 12-year-old who was doing it in front of adults and it just upset me because I saw a kid, a little kid, a 12-year-old, doing something very over-sexualised and I didn’t think it was right.”

After denying that her response to the drag performance had any relation to her feelings towards trans people, Abbington said: “I’m not transphobic, I’m not a transphobic person. I’m a firm supporter of the legitimate trans community, I always have been.”

The Safe star went on to say she thinks the transgender community has been “infiltrated by some people who want to cause damage and want to cause trouble, and pit people against each other”.

Abbington stated that she “would support any trans person who is feeling persecuted or not listened to or not seen”.

The Independent has reached out to a representative of Amanda Abbington and the BBC for further comment.