Amanda Abbington and Giovanni Pernice on Strictly Come Dancing (Image: BBC)Get daily celeb exclusives and behind the scenes house tours direct to your inboxMore Newsletters SubscribePlease enter a valid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later.More NewslettersWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More infoThank you for subscribing!We have more newslettersShow me See OurPrivacy Notice See OurPrivacy Notice×Group 28 Get daily celeb exclusives and behind the scenes house tours direct to your inboxInvalid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later.Sign UpNo thanks, closeWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info×Group 28Thank you for subscribing!We have more newslettersShow MeNo thanks, closeSee our
Privacy NoticeFriends of Giovanni Pernice have accused his former Strictly partner Amanda Abbington of going “gone too far” and trying to “destroy” him. A review into allegations made by the Mr Selfridge and Sherlock actress against Giovanni, her dance partner last year, resulted in six out of 17 complaints being upheld – leading to a BBC apology to Amanda. The report concluded that Giovanni had ‘verbally bullied and harassed’ Amanda, but he was cleared of any ‘physical aggression’ towards her. By this time, Italian professional dancer Giovanni had already left the show and has since joined Italy’s version of Dancing with the Stars – Ballando con le Stelle.
Amanda Abbington appeared on Newsnight where she spoke about the BBC’s internal investigation
(Image: BBC Screengrab)
Despite the results of the six-month BBC review now being public, the specifics of the findings remain confidential. However, Amanda’s interview with Newsnight’s Victoria Derbyshire earlier this week has caused further upset. It’s been claimed that many BBC employees were unaware it was happening and Giovanni’s team reportedly found out just minutes before it aired on Wednesday night, leaving them ‘furious’, reports the Mirror. During the interview, Amanda, 50, revealed she experienced an ‘ongoing litany of verbal abuse, sexual innuendo’ that were not ‘isolated one-off incidents’, as well as a ’35-minute rant at me with him throwing his hands in the air and calling me names’. She described her time on Strictly as ‘one of the worst years’ of her life.
Giovanni is now starring as a professional in the Italian version of Strictly Come Dancing, called Ballando con le Stelle, where he is paired with Italian actress and TV presenter Bianca
(Image: Getty Images)
Sources say there’s tension following Amanda Abbington’s exit from Strictly Come Dancing, with a friend of Giovanni reportedly telling the Daily Mail, “Amanda went too far, what is she doing? She knows full well what was in the report, she kept referring to it during the interview, saying that she had a 30-page report with her in the studio, which she said she and her lawyer are digesting.” Meanwhile, another friend allegedly said “When will she stop? Once again Abbington is destroying Giovanni in the media. For months, there have been stories in the papers of far more serious things Amanda says he did to her, those have not been upheld so what has she got to say about that?” A representative for Giovanni told the outlet, “It’s disappointing that Ms Abbington would knowingly mislead the outcome of the report seemingly in order to further attempt to damage Giovanni’s reputation. While Ms Abbington may not like the outcome of the six-month investigation, she should not seek to spread false and defamatory claims.” OK! has approached Amanda and Giovanni’s representatives for comment.Story SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnMr SelfridgeStrictly Come DancingGiovanni PerniceAmanda Abbington
