UPDATE: |BBC Strictly Come Dancing star’s teenage son to star in ‘massive’ American show from famous author News

Actress Amanda Abbington’s son with ex-partner Martin Freeman has landed a leading role

Amanda Abbington insists her actor son Joe is no “nepo baby”. The 51-year-old actress and her 53-year-old ex-partner Martin Freeman welcomed their 19 year old son into the world in 2006.

He has recently finished playing the lead character in a “massive” Stephen King MGM+ TV show called The Institute, which he “got all on his own” and is set to be released next year.

But despite his parents being acclaimed actors – with his mum and dad appearing in Sherlock together – Amanda thinks he does not need a helping hand to get him into showbusiness because of how well he did to bag the role on his own.

She told the Daily Mail newspaper’s Eden Confidential column as saying:” [He’s] no nepo baby. He’s just done a massive Stephen King show called ‘The Institute’, which comes out next year.

“He spent four months in Canada playing the lead in that. He got it all on his own, without anyone’s help – there was no nepotism there, which was good. None at all.”

The 2023 Strictly Come Dancing contestant also has a 16-year-old daughter called Grace with her former partner – who she split from in 2016 after a 16-year relationship.

Amanda is now engaged to Britain’s Got Talent daredevil Jonathan Goodwin and revealed that Martin could attend the pair’s upcoming wedding.

Asked about the possibility, she told Closer magazine last year: “I would imagine so. We’re still mates, we’re still good friends. It’s important to maintain a good, healthy relationship with your ex if you have children, I think.”

Amanda has been through a traumatic year that saw her embroiled in a bullying row with her Strictly professional partner Giovanni Pernice. The BBC conducted an investigation and confirmed back in September it had “upheld some, but not all” of Amanda’s complaints and issued her an apology.

She has since explained how she was grateful for the support of her loved ones during the turbulent time. She told The Times newspaper: “Last year was one of the worst years of my entire life. I was very close to having a breakdown because of the constant barrage of abuse and hideousness.

“And you just think, ‘How can I refuel the positivity?'” She added: “And Jonathan was amazing. My friends were amazing. My kids were wonderful, though I was trying to shield them from it.”