Giovanni Pernice has said he is “very happy” and has had “small revenges” following the BBC investigation into complaints made by actress Amanda Abbington. The 35-year-old Italian professional dancer appeared on the This Morning sofa on Tuesday (September 1) to speak to hosts Craig Doyle and Christine Lampard about his new memoir, Taking The Lead.
In the book, Giovanni has vented his fury at the BBC over its handling of the clash with Amanda in 2023, which led to his exit from Strictly Come Dancing. Amanda accused Giovanni of inappropriate bullying behaviour during her five weeks on the TV show, and the BBC’s subsequent investigation partially upheld some of her concerns, with the corporation apologising to the Sherlock star for her experience.
Giovanni’s response to the investigation
Discussing the investigation on This Morning, Giovanni said: “I wasn’t fired from Strictly Come Dancing. I was just told we’re not doing your contact again and in actual fact I went to a different show, the same job in a different country, the BBC are on the format. So if I was fired I wouldn’t be able to do the same job in a different country.”
He added: “I went to Italy and I won the same show in a different country so I did have my small revenges, you know in life and now got a beautiful girlfriend that make me very happy.”
When quizzed on the complaints which were upheld, Giovanni claimed: “One of them is one of the words that I can use because we're on TV but it's a word that every day all of us use. It's about the tone set in the room, if you use that tone to me I use the same tone to you, you know using that word.”
Approach to teaching and Amanda’s response
Christine later went on to ask if the investigation has encouraged him to change his approach in the training room when teaching students. Giovanni replied: “If you want to succeed there's only one way. Commitment, resilience, get the trophy, go home. That is what I demonstrated doing the same job in a different country and winning and coming second last year.”
He added: “Sometimes you can change the approach for sure but if I think that in the room everything is going perfectly, and I don't know where the problem is, I don't know how to change it. Honestly, I haven't got any bad feeling towards Amanda. I think she wants to move forward and I moved forward a long time ago.”
Christine later read out a statement from Amanda's spokesperson, which read: “In the past fortnight Mr Pernice has persisted in trying to reframe the BBC investigation and the findings that it made against him. To suggest he has not been given the chance to give his side is ludicrous given the thorough investigation conducted by the BBC which he was part of but - unsurprisingly - seems unhappy with the outcome.”
The statement continued: “To suggest that the findings against him related only to use of swear words is also wrong, but both parties were asked keep the contents of the Investigation Report confidential. Falling the visitation the BBC apologised to me and paid me substantial compensation that speaks for itself.”
Background and upcoming Strictly changes
The BBC had no comment but previously said they have introduced additional steps to strengthen welfare and support at Strictly Come Dancing, including a chaperone at every rehearsal room and the introduction of two new dedicated welfare support roles and further training.
During his time on Strictly, Giovanni partnered Georgia May Foote, Laura Whitmore, Debbie McGee, Faye Tozer, Michelle Visage, Ranvir Singh, Rose Ayling-Ellis, Richie Anderson and Amanda. Giovanni won Ballando con le Stelle, the Italian equivalent of Strictly, on December 21, 2024, alongside his celebrity partner and girlfriend, actress Bianca Guaccero.
The book release comes just weeks before Strictly’s big relaunch following the departure of hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman. Emma Willis, Johannes Radebe and Josh Widdicombe will make their presenting debut when the show returns this month, and Ellie Taylor takes over as host of spin-off show Strictly: It Takes Two. This Morning airs weekdays on ITV at 10am.
