Giovanni Pernice has claimed Amanda Abbington made 'rude gestures', including a Nazi salute, during their rehearsals for Strictly Come Dancing. The Sherlock actress, 52, competed in the BBC dance show in 2023, when she was partnered with Pernice.
While all seemed well during their time on the show, Abbington abruptly dropped out after five weeks, citing health reasons. She later accused Pernice of 'bullying' and creating a 'toxic environment'. The 35-year-old has denied these allegations and has now laid out his side of their weeks of training together in a new excerpt from his upcoming memoir Gio: Taking the Lead.
Pernice details 'banter' and gestures in rehearsals
In a serialisation in the Daily Mail, Pernice recalls how his communication style varied from one celebrity partner to the next, depending on their personality and humour. He said Abbington 'quickly set the tone', which he has claimed included calling him a 'k**b head' in a birthday text and routinely calling one another the c-word, in what Pernice labelled 'banter'.
Claiming that Abbington made a Sieg Heil salute, he said: 'If somebody calls me rude names and makes rude gestures, including a Nazi salute (which Amanda did), it means our banter is at that level.'
A BBC producer is said to have asked Abbington whether she was comfortable being called the c-word, according to Pernice, which she answered in the affirmative, saying she had started it.
Training difficulties and partner swap request
The professional dancer went on to recall how he had told Abbington upfront that training is 'mentally and physically exhausting', claiming that producers play down the difficulty. He went on to detail how 'the wheels started to come off' as the weeks wore on.
Pernice claimed another celebrity from the line-up told him that Abbington had shared on the WhatsApp group that she wanted to quit because he was 'too much'. He wrote in the excerpt: 'I was stunned. Why would she send nice, encouraging messages to me but then tell another group chat she wanted to quit?'
Afterwards, he started filming rehearsals to 'protect himself', and the BBC assigned them a chaperone. He said Abbington had yet to raise concerns with him, but that production later asked him to 'relax' his training approach.
Criticism of BBC welfare measures
'I was struggling to find the best way to teach Amanda because of her mixed messages. I told the production team I didn't know what she wanted from me,' wrote Pernice, who said he was unaware at the time, but that Abbington had asked the BBC if she could change partners.
He said the Strictly team tried to find a solution, but a partner swap was ruled out and afterwards Abbington decided to leave the show. Pernice went on to accuse the BBC of failing to safeguard its stars on Strictly, by not doing psychological assessments of celebrity contestants to ensure they were 'mentally able to cope with the challenge'.
He wrote: 'This is a big mistake by the BBC and it puts the celebrities and the pro dancers at risk. Put simply, I think the Corporation failed us.'
Metro contacted the BBC for comment, and they pointed to the 2024 announcement of additional steps to strengthen welfare and support on the show. This included chaperones in rehearsals, two new roles dedicated to welfare support and further training for the production team. Metro also contacted Amanda Abbington's representative for comment on this story.
