What did you miss?
Giovanni Pernice has given his side of the story on Amanda Abbington’s complaints about his behaviour during Strictly Come Dancing, insisting that he is not a bully and refusing to rule out a return to the BBC show.
The pro dancer, who was the subject of a BBC investigation into his behaviour towards Abbington in 2023’s series, claimed that they had never had an argument and that the first he knew of her being unhappy was when she made a formal complaint about him.
Pernice added that everyone was aware he was a strict teacher, saying: “I care about my job. I’m very, very, very competitive. I’ve won the glitterball before.”
What, how, and why?
Giovanni Pernice has spoken out in his first UK TV interview about the complaints Amanda Abbington made against him on Strictly Come Dancing, saying he is relieved that the BBC report recognises he is “not a bully” and suggesting he may return to the show in the future.
The dancer had spent nine years in the show’s pro cast, but was dropped ahead of this year’s series as the BBC probe into claims by his 2023 partner Abbington was ongoing and he is instead dancing in Italy’s version of the show.
He spoke to Lorraine host Christine Lampard about the findings of the report, which upheld six claims of verbal abuse from him but rejected a further 11 allegations, which included physically threatening behaviour.
Read more: Strictly Come Dancing
Pernice said: “The investigation didn’t find me a bully and this is why I feel relief now, it’s important to put that straight. Bully is a big word. There’s a difference between being a bully and caring about what you do.”
He continued: “Bullying is a major word but I’m glad that 11 allegations were dropped. At the beginning there were very serious allegations that I had been threatening her or abusing her and all of this has been taken out which is the most important thing.”
Asked whether he had any regrets over what happened, he answered: “Why would I have regrets? What happened, it did happen. I’m happy that the results were positive for me because at the beginning the allegations were very serious.”
Pernice also refused to rule out a return to Strictly when asked if he might rejoin the show one day: “At the moment I’m just very focussed on Dancing with the Stars Italy. I’ve got a tour coming up in January so I’m definitely coming back to the UK. And then, who knows? Never say never.”
The BBC report offered an apology to Abbington over her treatment on the show, but Pernice claimed that he had never argued with her in training and said that he was pleased she had spoken up if she did not feel comfortable.
He said: “I agree with the BBC, it’s good that Amanda came forward to talk about something that happened. It’s important if something don’t feel right to talk to somebody. I’m glad she did.”
He smiled as he was shown a clip from Abbington’s Newsnight interview where she accused Pernice of using sexual innuendo, calling her “mad” and ranting at her over seven hours a day for seven weeks.
Pernice said: “That’s the reason why I’m here today, to answer to those things because there’s so much that is not true in those things. The most important thing is to accept what is in the report and move on with our lives because otherwise we’ll go in a circle that is never going to finish. When she said about we trained seven hours – I wish we trained seven hours a day, we never did. Calling names, mad, I never called her names.”
Asked what he would say to her if they were in a room together now, he said: “I think we’ll have a nice cup of tea, I think we’ll have a chat about what happened in that room for once. It’s very difficult because at that time everything was perfect. Me and Amanda Abbington never had an argument.”
What else did Giovanni Pernice say about the claims against him?
Talking about his decision to speak out, Pernice said: “It’s been a year of difficulty. It’s been difficult to read every day in the newspaper things that were simply not true and not be able to talk because both of us were asked to maintain confidentiality. Finally the results are out I’m able to talk about what happened and set the record straight from my side of the story.”
He attempted to explain his teaching style, saying that it was well known that he was a “strict teacher”.
“I put pressure on myself I get frustrated, the celebrity get frustrated, trust me when I say every single person on Strictly Come Dancing in the world would get frustrated because you feel the pressure that you want to perform perfectly on a Saturday night,” he said.
“Frustration is something you have when you want to be good. I do care about the job. And when you have somebody on your hands like Amanda which in my opinion she was brilliant, she was unbelievable at dancing, it’s normal that you try to get the best you can out of a partner. I’m a bit upset because we didn’t make it all the way to the final. Amanda was one of those that – wow.
“It’s in the public domain that I’m a strict teacher. I recognise that in myself. In that time if you want to achieve greatness I think that is the right way to do.”
Pernice added of changing his behaviour now: “Yes, you can change the approach, but not change the teaching style.
“It depends what you want from Strictly Come Dancing. If you come to me and say I really want to win this, I will do everything in my power to make you to win this. If at that time that was your goal and then suddenly you’ve changed it and you don’t tell me, there’s not much I can do. I can’t read minds. I just do what you asked me to do. Nine years in the show, everyone knows I’m a strict teacher. I care about my job. I’m very, very, very competitive. I’ve won the glitterball before.”
The dancer also said that his last conversation with Abbington had been over text where he had offered to help her find a doctor when she said she was leaving over health issues.
Asked about complaints from his previous Strictly partners, including Laura Whitmore, he said: “I can only answer to the things I know. I’ve got only one official complaint, from Amanda. All the others I genuinely can’t answer because I don’t know where to start from.”
On the subject of Whitmore saying she had been asked to give evidence for the BBC investigation, he said: “All my nine partners had been asked to talk to the BBC to get a bigger vision of what my teaching style would be.”
Lorraine airs on ITV1 at 9am on weekdays.