Giovanni Pernice addresses 'concerning' Strictly Come Dancing scandal and makes fresh claim in Amanda Abbington row

Giovanni Pernice has spoken of his 'concern' around the Strictly Come Dancing scandal he found himself at the centre of this year as he made a fresh claim about his experience with Amanda Abbington while being quizzed in his first TV interview.

The professional dancer appeared on ITV's Lorraine on Tuesday (October 22) to talk about what happened between him and the actress during the 2023 series of the BBC One dance contest which led to an investigation by the BBC.

Giovanni, 34, spent several years as a professional dancer on the hit dance show. However, earlier this year, an investigation was launched by the BBC following allegations made about the dancer by his former celebrity dance partner, actress Amanda.

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Earlier this month, months after starting its investigation, the BBC released its findings and confirmed it had "upheld some, but not all" of Amanda's complaints and issued her an apology.

Speaking to Lorraine's stand-in host Christine Lampard, Giovanni told how it was the 'right time' for him to give his first interview about the complaints, of which there were 17 and six were upheld, after he and Amanda were both asked to respect the confidentiality of the review.

During the chat, Christine brought up Amanda's own interview on Lorraine last month where she claimed, in her words, the behvaiour displayed by Giovanni felt like "bullying" and a "nasty mean place to be" in the rehearsal room, adding she approached the BBC in the first week of rehearsals on the third day.

Giovanni responded: "That's very concerning to me. Strictly is one of the shows where you put two people in the room, I personally didn't know Amanda and Amanda didn't know me so it's very concerning the fact that even things like that after three days you already complain, in that case I need to get to know you in three days.

"In three days, I need to know what you like, the way you work and what is good for you and what is not good for you. This is what Strictly is about, it's about building a relationship with your partner. In that case you come to me, as I'm your partner, you come to me and say: 'Listen, Giovanni, I don't really like this' or 'Giovanni I like that' but in three days, it's very early days especially when you don't know that person. I didn't even know all of this was happening!"

The host also asked the professional dancer if he were to speak to Amanda now if there was anything he'd like to say to her and if he'd want to say 'sorry'. Giovanni replied: "I think we'd have a nice cup of tea and probably have a chat about what happened in that room... It's very difficult because at that time, everything was perfect. Me and Amanda Abbington never had an arguement."

Interjecting, Christine said: "And yet she does obviously say that she was deeply uncomfotable..." to which Giovanni jumped in: "After six months. But if you'd have come to me at that time, you'd have come to me and say, 'we're not getting along', we'd probably have a chat. Like any other relationship, we'd have a chat and we'd talk it through and try to make it better.

"But realistically, me and Amanda never had an argument. We'd have a discussion about steps, we did have meetings with the BBC but we'd always come forward from that. I didn't have a meeting with the BBC with all my other partners."

Christine later asked if Giovanni thinks there's something "inherently wrong" and whether there's something he needs to change about his teaching methods to which he responded: "Strictly, as I've always said, it's a room. You put two people in a room and these two people have to get to know each other. Some people get along, some people don't get along and this happens in rooms in every single country.

"You can't all the time have the perfect match... But as long as you remain professional for the same goal which is to achieve the Glitterball at the end of the day, you just carrying on. When you asked me if I'd change anything, I wouldn't change my teaching style because in my opinion, it's a profession. Dancing is a very difficult thing to do and I've achieved four finals, I won with Rose [Ayling-Ellis], now I'm breaking records in Italy... It's not the blow my own trumpet, it's a difficult discipline and for me, teaching the way I teach is a successful way to approach this..."