Giovanni Pernice was one of the longest serving dancers on Strictly Come Dancing before he was paired with Amanda Abbington.
The Sherlock and Mr Selfridge star is said to have chosen Giovanni during the BBC show “Speed Dating”, where celebrities and professional dancers meet for a quick dance and a chat.Giovanni was initially happy with his choice of partner as he believed Amanda was a great dancer who could even win the final.
However, it didn’t take long for things to go wrong and within a few weeks of joining the show, Amanda quit.Furthermore, the 50-year-old man has filed a formal complaint against the 34-year-old Giovanni. This launched a months-long investigation which is said to have cost the taxpayer more than a quarter of a million pounds.
Ultimately, only six of Amanda’s 17 allegations were upheld. These included verbal bullying and harassment, including swearing, using “derogatory” language and giving negative feedback about her partner.
But she was found not guilty of the most serious charge of physical violence.Here are six bombshells that emerged as Giovanni gives his first interview since leaving Strictly earlier this year.
And he reveals what he plans to do now that it’s all over.PhotosDirty jokes A few days after the pair got together, Giovanni said that Strictly’s boss had called him and Amanda in to talk after he noticed the pair were swearing at each other – they wanted to know if both sides felt insulted by it.Giovanni revealed that Amanda was the “joker”, used words with a C and was often the one to start the “black jokes”.
He said the “dirty jokes” had been with them from the beginning.When producers asked him about it, Giovanni said: “Amanda was like, ‘Oh, it’s OK, I’ll call you that!’ So he didn’t think there was anything wrong between them at that point.
Secret Whatsapp
after just two weeks of training, Giovanni thought things were going well with Amanda, as she texted him saying he was an “incredible teacher.”But he later found out she had sent messages to celebrity WhatsApp groups expressing her dissatisfaction.
Giovanni told the Daily Mail: “She had had a terrible week – and this was the first week before the show started.”
rehearsal Recording
after fearing that Amanda would tell others the “truth” about him, Giovanni began to take steps: Filmed her training sessions on his mobile phone to protect himself.
He said at the time that he didn’t expect Amanda to accuse him, but “I didn’t feel comfortable or safe being in the room” after learning that she was “two different versions” of the story being told. ”
At this point, the producers began filming the sessions themselves and told Amanda they would.
However, Amanda later claimed that it was she who asked them to tape the rehearsals.
Cancer scare and final text
Message during the show’s sixth week in October 2023, Giovanni said he was “devastated” when he received a call from a producer informing him that Amanda had left the show.
He said that just hours earlier, Amanda had told him that she had found two lumps in her breasts while in the shower and was unable to concentrate.
That text message from her would be the last she would ever send him.Giovanni responded by saying, “Tell me it’s nothing big,” and even called the doctor to ask if he could arrange an ultrasound.His final message to Amanda was: “Let me help you, forget about the dance, forget about the show, this is what’s most important.” But Amanda didn’t reply, and there was no further communication between the two.
“She’s trying to destroy me
“After Amanda made a formal complaint about him, Giovanni said, “I don’t know when she’s going to stop.”He admitted that he had been crying and feeling depressed regularly over the past few months because of everything that had happened, especially when his parents asked him if he had been a bully.
But the worst moment came when Amanda said in a TV interview that some of the bullying allegations against him were “sexual in nature”. The claim has not been confirmed by the BBC.Giovanni admitted he “wanted to punch the TV” but knew he had to keep quiet while the investigation continued.
He said: “It was the first time anything sexual had been brought up and, of course, I was worried it would ruin my career – it’s children and women who come on to my show…A few days later, Amanda claimed in a newspaper that Giovanni had said this to her.
The accusation was not confirmed by the BBC report, with a stunned Giovanni confessing that he “had to ask my agent what menopause meant”. In the Italian version of Strictly Come Dancing, Giovanni will face a new confrontation with the BBC in the coming days, following the publication of the report’s findings.
In the meeting, he said he hoped to discuss some issues regarding his treatment and has not ruled out the possibility of returning to the show in the future.
He told the Mail: “I’d like to hear what they have to say to me. We need to have a chat about the whole thing. I’m glad that they got the result they did, but there’s a few points I want to talk to them about.”