Zara McDermott revealed Strictly training room rule from Graziano that left her in agony and bleeding
ZARA McDermott was left bleeding thanks to a rule imposed by Graziano Di Primo in the Strictly Come Dancing training room.
The Italian dancer, who has been accused of ‘kicking and hitting’ Zara during her time on the show, banned her from wearing women’s heels.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun last year, Zara revealed her feet were left with “open wounds” after he told her to only wear men’s dance shoes.
Zara told us at The Sun’s Who Cares Wins awards: “Graziano told me not to go for the heels but to dance in men’s shoes at the start.
“Off he went and got me them and they’re men’s shoes with a little Cuban heel.
“I told him, ‘It’s not working, I need to take them off’ and he said, ‘No, no you’re fine’.
“I said honestly it’s hurting and I took them off and my feet were bleeding. I was like, ‘I told you I am not being dramatic!’”
She added: “My feet are feeling better this week, I feel like they’re getting harder now.”
Graziano was axed from Strictly this week following claims of misconduct towards Love Island star Zara during training.
The professional dancer, who joined the show in 2018, had his BBC contract terminated when spoken to on Monday.
Video footage from the training room is said to have shown Graziano ‘kicking and spitting’ at the reality star-turned-documentary maker.
The claims against him emerged in the inquiry into Giovanni Pernice’s behaviour towards Amanda Abbington on the same series.
That probe began in May and Italian pro dancer Giovanni denies any wrongdoing.
Graziano wrote on Instagram: “I deeply regret the events that led to my departure from Strictly. My intense passion and determination to win might have affected my training regime.
“Respecting the BBC HR process, I understand it’s best for the show that I step away.”
He continued: “While there are aspects of this story involving external influences that I can’t discuss at this time, I remain committed to being strong for my family and friends.
“I wish the Strictly family and the BBC nothing but success in the future.”
Meanwhile, Zara has since broken her silence with her own lengthy statement on social media.
She said: “I have wrestled with the fear of opening up – I was scared about public backlash, I was scared about my future, I was scared of victim shaming.”
While Zara insisted that the Strictly production team and everyone behind the scenes were “amazing to work with”, she confessed that her “experience inside the training room was very different” and said: “There were witnesses to some events as well as videos of particular incidents which are incredibly distressing to watch.”
Zara and her boyfriend, former Made In Chelsea star Sam Thompson, have unfollowed Graziano on social media.