‘The moment I knew Giovanni Pernice hated me and I told Strictly’ (2024)

Amanda Abbington revealed on live TV this morning that she knew her former Strictly Come Dancing partner hated her days in the competition as the BBC continues an investigation into her dance partner, Giovanni Pernice.

In this morning’s episode of Lorraine, Christine Lampard sat down with the former Strictly contestant to chat about her treatment on the show.

In Amanda’s first live interview since speaking out against the pro, she revealed that she knew very early on in the competition that her dance partner didn’t like her.

‘The third day,’ she told Christine in the candid interview. ‘I’ve got texts to the producer on day three saying “This is awful, he hates me. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, I’m trying my best I promise you”.’

The star went on to explain: ‘It started very early on and when it started to happen I’d shut down and recognise those red flags.’

She then reiterated that the ‘red flags’ were actions that she claimed were ‘inappropriate, mean, nasty, and bullying.’

Speaking to MailOnline, Amanda’s fiancé Jonathan Goodwin has now spoken out to support his partner.

‘How she was treated – and she’s said this herself – was not great in ways that I can’t go into. But it’s not about strict or militant training.

‘It’s other stuff and I can’t talk about it, but it will all come up. The truth will come out.’

He also added that the threats following the ordeal have been horrific.

‘It’s been brutal and relentless and unforgiving. The aftermath has been something that I wasn’t expecting – the death threats and rape threats towards not only myself but to my daughter.

‘And threats of death to my son. And Giovanni fans. When you get one or two of those you can go, ‘Oh God,’ you know,’ he said.

The Sherlock actress has previously made accusations about the teaching methods of her dance partner Pernice, who has since left the show, but he has strongly denied her claims of ‘unnecessary, abusive, cruel and mean’ behaviour.

In an interview on Channel 4 with presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy, who was a competitor on the same series of Strictly as her, Abbington made further allegations about Pernice, including that he exhibited ‘humiliating behaviour of a sexual nature.’

She also alleged that Pernice had blocked her lawyer from accessing 50 hours of footage. She claimed she requested their rehearsals be filmed after week one and that BBC staff were ‘shocked and horrified’ by what they saw.

During her first TV interview about Strictly, Guru-Murthy said he heard from ‘someone else’ he did not name that Abbington had been subjected to ‘humiliating behaviour of a sexual nature’ and asked if the allegation was correct.

Abbington nodded her head, wiped back the tears and hesitantly said: ‘Yeah.’

After Guru-Murthy said he was sorry, she added: ‘It’s alright. Its OK. Yeah. One of the many things.’

Abbington went on to claim that she had been banned from watching hours of footage but that her lawyer was contesting the ban. She claimed that Pernice ‘didn’t want anyone to see’ the footage.

She alleged: ‘There’s 50 hours of footage that’s being blocked. You know, 50 hours is a lot of footage, and a lot of time spent in a room that was toxic.

‘There is evidence out there of what happened in that room and I’m not the one who’s blocking it. I’ve said anyone can watch it, but he (Giovanni) doesn’t want anyone to see it, which is quite telling if he’s got nothing to hide.’

Abbington also claimed she ‘raised concerns’ to producers early on in Strictly and asked for cameras to be installed in the rehearsal room.

She alleged: ‘Giovanni said that he asked for the cameras, he didn’t ask for the cameras, I know that he didn’t ask for the cameras, because the producers came to me and said, “We’re going to put in cameras so we can view the footage at the end of the week and make an assessment and see what’s going on.”

‘And then every Friday, after the next sort of five weeks, I would get the producer saying, on the Friday, “We just watched the footage back, we are shocked and horrified, we’re so sorry.”

In response, a spokesperson for Pernice told Metro.co.uk: ‘We are cooperating fully with the BBC’s review process.

‘All parties have been asked to respect this process and to not speak to the media before it concludes.

‘We will continue to respect the integrity of the investigation and believe it is the right forum for all the evidence to be reviewed.

‘As part of the evidence-led review, the BBC has shared the allegations they have been able to substantiate with us.

‘They do not resemble Amanda’s latest allegations, given to Channel 4, in any shape or form.

‘Giovanni refutes any claim of threatening or abusive behaviour, and having provided the BBC with his evidence, is confident that the review will prove this.

‘We would urge people to wait for the review’s conclusion and not to pay heed to these very serious and defamatory allegations that have no evidence in support of them.

They added: ‘As part of the evidence-led review, the BBC has shared the allegations they have been able to substantiate with us. They do not resemble Amanda’s latest allegations, given to Channel 4, in any shape or form.

‘Giovanni refutes any claim of threatening or abusive behaviour, and having provided the BBC with his evidence, is confident that the review will prove this.’

During the interview, the Doc Martin star also said she had received ‘brutal, relentless and unforgiving’ rape and death threats towards herself and her two children.

Abbington shares teenage children, son Joe and daughter Grace, with her ex The Hobbit star Martin Freeman.

Asked if it was from Strictly fans, she agreed and also alleged the behaviour came from supporters of Pernice, 33.

Abbington also claimed as soon as it was announced she would be partnering with Pernice, she was contacted by people who shared what they said were their negative experiences of dancing with him.

She alleged that Pernice’s former dancer partners told her ‘I’m so sorry’ when they heard the news.

Explaining her decision to speak out, Abbington stated she wanted to encourage people who feel ‘bullied’ or are in a situation they feel is ‘toxic and unsafe’ to complain, despite the backlash she has allegedly received.

She said: ‘I know it happened because it happened to me. I am not a sensational person… I’m not hysterical. I don’t make things out to be bigger than they are.

‘I know what happened to me in that room wasn’t acceptable. I complained about it and sort of have not been taken seriously.

‘We have to cultivate a society and an environment where women can come forward and say, ‘yeah’… or men because it happens to men as well, ‘I’m finding this uncomfortable. Can you do something about it?’ And then something be done about it? That’s all.

‘And I think, we need to be brave and I want to stand up for any woman, any woman who feels that they don’t have a voice or be there for her championing her and say, “Yeah, I’ve got you.”‘

In response to Abbington’s comments, a BBC spokesperson told Metro.co.uk: ‘Anyone involved in a complaint has a right to confidentiality and fair process and therefore it would be inappropriate to comment further on individuals.

‘However, when issues are raised with us we always take them extremely seriously and have appropriate processes in place to manage this. As we have said before, we would urge people not to indulge in speculation.

‘More generally, the BBC and BBC Studios takes duty of care extremely seriously. Our processes on Strictly Come Dancing are updated every year, they are kept under constant review and last week we announced additional steps to further strengthen welfare and support on the show.’

There has been a storm of negative stories about the culture on the BBC’s flagship programme and the treatment of contestants.

Abbington said that she knows of ‘three other women’ who went through something similar during their Strictly Come Dancing experiences and there is ‘potentially’ more people coming forward.

Graziano Di Prima left the show overallegations he ‘kicked and hit’ Love Island star Zara McDermottand said he ‘deeply regrets’ the events that led to his departure.

Moreclaims against dancers have since emerged, and theBBC has introduced drastic new measuresto support celebrities’ welfare on the show, including having chaperones in rehearsal rooms.

On Tuesday, BBC director-general Tim Davie apologised to contestants who have had an experience that ‘hasn’t been wholly positive’, and maintained the show would return.

Over the past three months, the BBC has been conducting an investigation into Pernice’s teaching style after claims of inappropriate and controlling behaviour, which was prompted by Abbington’s complaints.

The outcome of the probe is expected to be revealed in the coming days.

On Sunday, Abbington toldThe Sun on Sundaythat she felt that there was a ‘duty of care’ that wasn’t met, adding that she complained after thinking about it ‘long and hard’ in order to protect future contestants.

‘Rehearsal rooms should be a safe space, there is a duty of care and kindness, and that courtesy wasn’t extended to me on this job,’ she said.

In response, a spokesperson for Pernice toldMailOnline: ‘The BBC has shared allegations from the inquiry with Giovanni, who has cooperated fully.

‘None of the allegations carried in the Sun on Sunday are included in any shape or form. Giovanni refutes these allegations and denies any accusations of abusive or threatening behaviour.

‘He has provided substantive evidence to the investigation and he remains fully confident of clearing his name.’

The BBC declined to comment when contacted by the publication.

In January, Abbington, who left the completion mid-way through citing ‘personal reasons’ at the time, said she was suffering from PTSD.

Abbington first broke her silence about her treatment on the show in June. At the time Amanda told the MailOnline that Pernice was ‘nasty’ and she asked for her dance rehearsals with him to be recorded.

‘I asked for them to be recorded, it was me. Giovanni is nasty. He was awful to a few of us, a group of us,’ she said.

In the interview with The Sun, Abbington added that she was ‘proud’ of the other celebrities who had also come forward to complain.

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