Amy: Danny isn’t a bully
DANNY John-jules’ dance partner Amy Dowden last night denied he reduced her to tears by bullying her, insisting: “He’s been nothing but lovely.”
Amy, 27, said of the Red Dwarf star, 58: “Things did get a little intense the other day in rehearsals. Do you know what? We took a half-hour break and then got straight to it. I never felt bullied or threatened by Danny.”
“He thanks me every weekend and so does his partner Petula.
“I think we have a family relationship and Petula says she sees me as part of the family.”
Amy also revealed Danny even showers her with presents.
“I’ve had a bag off him and a towel and a training T-shirt and he treated me to my nails and a pedicure and a manicure,” she said.
“Sometimes I travel with all the props in the bag and he got me a new one – a wheely one. He really looks out for me.”
Last night Danny insisted he was victim of a “vendetta” by people who want him to fail on the show.
He said: “My conscious is clear over all of it. It seems to be turning into a vendetta.
“For some reason, some people don’t want me to be successful on Strictly. It’s more than just a Strictly story. This is personal.”
Danny had earlier mocked bullying claims by tweeting a King Kong movie poster captioned: “My new CV just arrived.” Last night he added:“i’m a man who says what he means and means what he says.”
Insiders say Danny and Amy’s bustup was over footwork for this weekend’s samba to Feels Like Home.
A source said: “She was going, ‘Back one, two, three, four’ and he wasn’t listening and talking over her.
“She said she couldn’t take this any more and walked out. He is a difficult man but he is not a bully. He’s exhausting to be around but never swears or offends on purpose.”
But Danny said of the drama: “This woman is supposed to be running from me in fear yet there she is in the training film with me, which is shown on It Takes Two.”
“This idea of a poor little girl walking out screaming, then we went back upstairs and started dancing for filming, it’s just ridiculous.”
Amy explained: “Danny is finding it tiring and it is challenging. But I forget that he is 58 and that he is the oldest contestant in the show.
“I hope I’m that fit when I am his age! He just goes with it and always puts his faith into me.”
There were no signs of tension between the couple last night – but their samba failed to wow judges.
With his children Dante, 12, and Danae, 10, in the audience they scored just 27 out of 40 putting them in danger of tonight’s dance off. Craig said Danny had “too much energy” and needed to relax a little – the other judges agreed but admitted he didn’t make any mistakes.
But the audience liked the performance giving them a standing ovation as the couple embraced after their dance.
Danny said afterwards: “It’s probably the best dancing we’ve done, the last couple days, since I’ve been on the show. I’m just happy to go along.
“She’s the boss. She wears the pants. Why would I argue with a Welsh woman?”
And Amy added defiantly: “I really want to get this man to Blackpool and then to the finals.”
A Strictly spokesman did not respond to Danny’s comments.