Moroccan actress Laila Rouass at the heart of a controversy in Great Britain

As the BBC’s television dance competition “Strictly Come Dancing” has been hit by allegations of violence on set in recent months, a historic row between Moroccan-born British model and actress Laila Rouass and her former dance partner Anton Du Beke resurfaced last week, prompting a response from the Moroccan. She is trying to put the controversy to rest.

“There has been a lot of speculation over the last couple of weeks about alleged complaints I made to the BBC about my time on Strictly. (…) I didn’t intend to make a statement but now feel it’s necessary as over the last few weeks there have been false accusations, online abuse and harassment directed at me and my family,” Laila Rouass said in a post on her Instagram account. In 2009, the British actress of Moroccan descent took part in BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing with her dance partner Anton Du Beke. However, her appearance was marred by incidents. Anton reduced her to tears when he told her she “looked like a whore” during rehearsal. At the time, Anton also made a joke about Laila’s North African heritage, asking her if she was a terrorist. The relationship between the dancers had deteriorated, but not for long. “I would like to come back to these incidents. Yes, Anton used derogatory words and it was unacceptable. Yes, Anton publicly apologized to me. Above all, and most importantly, I do not believe Anton is racist or Islamophobic. If I had thought he was, I would have refused to dance with him,” explained the actress, assuring that at no time was she physically, emotionally, sexually or verbally assaulted by her former dance partner.