Amanda Abbington breaks down in first interview after Giovanni Pernice Strictly report

Amanda Abbington has spoken out for the first time since the outcome of a BBC investigation into her claims

Amanda Abbington has spoken out about Giovanni Pernice's conduct during their private Strictly rehearsals in her first interview since the BBC published a report on her complaints. The 50-year-old actress made further allegations in a new interview with the BBC.

She recounted her distress on Newsnight, explaining that she struggled with Giovanni's teaching methods. When questioned by Victoria Derbyshire about the behaviour, Amanda, with a shaky voice, said: "Um, yeah. It was one of the allegations that was upheld. There were two allegations," pausing to refer to the 30-page BBC investigation document.

"There were two allegations of inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature. They were upheld and one of them was physical and one was verbal."

A visibly upset Amanda then clarified that the other claim was verbal and added: "And they weren't isolated one-off incidents. They were over a period of seven weeks."

These latest allegations follow the upholding of six out of her 17 complaints against the Italian dancer after an internal investigation by the BBC. During the interview, Victoria also recited Giovanni's previous statement, saying that he told Newsnight: "We are unable to comment any further and the BBC has asked both parties to respect confidentiality," reports the Mirror.

Giovanni has strongly denied all allegations made by Amanda in the past.

In an Instagram post shared on Monday (September 30), following the release of the BBC investigation results, Giovanni said: "It's over, it's finished, six months, seven months of all of this. Seven months of reading things every day in the newspaper and not being able to respond because I wanted to keep the confidentiality and privacy of the review, (it) was a difficult time."

He added, "It was difficult because, you know, reading stuff that (was) untrue, wasn't the nicest time of my life lets be honest. But today I'm happy because, at the beginning there were very, very serious allegations thrown out at me but today, none of the serious allegations have been upheld."

He continued: "All the threatening, abusive, harassment behaviour allegations have not been upheld. Today is a day when we can all reflect because, I appreciate that dancing is a very difficult thing to do. It's a sport, it's something that is difficult in every possible way and sometimes you get frustrated, as a teacher, as a dancer, as a performer. But the only reason why you get frustrated is because you care about what you do.

"You know as a professional, as a teacher, I want to get the best out of my partner, and sometimes I do get frustrated. I think everybody around the world does the same thing, it's called being professional and I love doing that. You know even now with Bianca (Guaccero, his partner on the Italian equivalent of Strictly, Ballando con le Stelle), I get frustrated, I think it's a normal thing, but then you get out the best and the results come forward."

The investigation revealed instances of "inappropriate behaviour of sexual banter in the workplace," including an occasion where made an improper signal, a clear breach of BBC codes. Reflecting on the BBC's statement, Amanda said that speaking up "was not an easy thing to do".

Meanwhile, the BBC said: "Strictly Come Dancing is a family show and we rightly expect very high standards. While competition can be tough, rigorous and demanding, we want the show to ultimately be a joyous and transformative experience. It is a great shame if this hasn't been the case for everyone who has appeared on the show. We have assessed the complaints and we have upheld some, but not all. We want to apologise to Amanda Abbington and to thank her for coming forward and taking part. We know this would not have been an easy thing to do."

A representative for Giovanni said: "We are pleased this six-month review has not found any evidence of threatening or abusive behaviour. Giovanni is relieved that the overwhelming majority of allegations put to the BBC have not been upheld and looks forward to continuing his work on Dancing With The Stars in Italy this season."

Giovanni also posted a statement on his Instagram page expressing relief that the situation and investigation were over. His former Strictly co-star, Lauren Oakley, liked the post.