Amanda Abbington was ‘fragile and putting on a brave face’ before Strictly exit

AMANDA Abbington was said to be “fragile and putting on a brave face” in the days leading up to her Strictly Come Dancing departure.

The actress, 49, shocked fans when she made the decision to leave the competition after missing last weekend’s show with Giovanni Pernice for “undisclosed medical reasons”.

Around the same time, the Sherlock star shared a quote by the late actor and comedian Robin Williams – but then deleted it.

The post seemingly read: “People don’t fake depression… they fake being okay. Remember that. Be kind.”

Speaking of her exit, an insider told : “It could be that she didn’t know what she let herself in for.’

“From the very beginning they weren’t gelling. Obviously they were putting a brave face on it, but the issue was clearly not being solved.”

The source continued: “He was quite tough and she found that difficult. If she wasn’t very well, that wouldn’t have helped.

“She was with a partner that had a certain training style that she couldn’t cope with. Whether that came to a head or whether there’s something else going on I don’t know.”

Amanda herself had told she had been feeling “fragile” in a video shared by her fiancé Jonathan Goodwin.

She added that she “had welled up upstairs in tears thinking about having to put my dance shoes on again”.

The Sun reported last month how Amanda and her Italian dance partner Giovanni had clashed — with the actress threatening to quit over the dance pro’s “militant” attitude to training.

Amanda shared a statement about her departure yesterday, but failed to mention Gio.

He added fuel to feud rumours by failing to react to her post.