Strictly Come Dancing's Amanda Abbington sends 7-minute message addressing 'boycott' over her signing

Strictly Come Dancing's newest star Amanda Abbington has issued a seven-minute message after fans of the dance show threatened to 'boycott' the upcoming series over her involvement.

The hit BBC dance show will return to our screens this September and it's already been revealed that Sherlock star Amanda is among the stars taking part alongside newscasters Angela Rippon and Krishnan Guru-Murthy, actor Layton Williams, radio star Eddie Kadi and TV presenter Angela Scanlon.

But it is Amanda, who is most known for playing Mary Morstan in the hit Benedict Cumberbatch-led show Sherlock, that has left some fans divided based on previous comments she has made.

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In March, Amanda tweeted that a drag baby sensory and cabaret show wasn't fit for young children. The actress described the event as 'abhorrent' and added "if you think it is [for babies], there is something fundamentally wrong with you"

She posted a follow-up the next day: "I lost quite a few followers for saying that a semi-naked man in thigh-high boots dancing in a highly sexualised way shouldn’t be performing in front of babies and it tells me everything I need to know about where society is heading. How do you not agree with me on this?"

But on Sunday night, after seeing some of the reaction to her taking to the ballroom in the hit dance contest this year in which some refused to watch, Amanda issued a long and frank apology as she said 'I'm not a transphobe'.

She also addressed the tweet in question from March and explained the real reason her account was taken down. She told her Instagram followers: "Apparently I'm trending on Twitter because people are gonna boycott