Giovanni Pernice's 'humiliating sexual bullying' of Amanda Abbington revealed after her tears

Amanda Abbington was left in tears when she first claimed professional dancer Giovanni Pernice had used 'humiliating behaviour of a sexual nature' during their time on Strictly Come Dancing

Professional dancer Giovanni Pernice's 'humiliating sexual bullying' his dance partner Amanda Abbington could only hint at have now been revealed.

The long-awaited Strictly Come Dancing probe has finally been released as the BBC apologised to Amanda after it “upheld some, but not all” of her complaints. Amanda had spoke out against Giovanni, who she was partnered with on the 2023 series of the dance competition, saying she has PTSD following the 'ordeal' of training together.

The actress quit the series early and broke down in tears as she claimed some of the bullying was of a "sexual nature". In an explosive Channel 4 News interview with fellow Strictly competitor Krishnan-Guru Murthy, Amanda spoke about the. nature of the harassment she claimed to face.

News anchor Krishnan asked: "I heard, not from you, from somebody else, about an instance of, I suppose you’d call it humiliating behaviour of a sexual nature, is that right?” In tears, Amanda replied: “Yeah. I mean, you know, one of the many things.” She then insisted she couldn't share full details about the nature of the claims as it was under investigation.

One of her complaints detailed in the report told how Giovanni grabbed his crotch and uttered a lewd remark. He also told his dance partner that he “wanted to f*** her”. A source close to Giovanni claimed to the Mirror: “This was all done in jest and perceived in this way by Amanda. They were intended as jokes and compliments of her dancing style. Her language could be just as course back.”

He was cleared of threatening, abusive and physical behaviour. A source close to Amanda said: “Any ­findings of workplace misconduct by an internal ­investigation is pretty extraordinary. It really says ­something, and was deemed serious enough to ­apologise. It also shows up his teaching methods which he has so publicly said was beyond criticism. Giovanni certainly hasn’t been cleared as he would like to portray.”

The source added: “This is ­corroborated by a number of different people, ex-contestants, dancers, choreographers. It is not an insignificant number of people who have supported her. She is relieved as many thought it would be a massive fudge. A lot of people thought it shouldn’t be an internal investigation at all but given to an external body to consider.”

Giovanni's camp have insisted Amanda's six complaints had been "trivial". Among the upheld complaints, the review said there were claims of “isolated incidents where Giovanni swore or threw his hands in the air”. It added that “he was swearing and using what could be described as belittling language.” This amounted to bullying ­behaviour, it added.

Another complaint upheld was that Giovanni, who has quit Strictly, was using “too much negative feedback”. Giovanni has since told how being accused of bullying “wasn’t the nicest time of my life” and he was “relieved” at the review. He said: “Today I’m happy because, you know, at the ­beginning there were very, very serious allegations thrown out at. But none of those allegations have been upheld. The threatening, abusive, ­harassment ­behaviour ­allegations have not been upheld.”

Amanda, who has been sent rape and murder threats since speaking out, said: “Despite this vile abuse, I’ve never regretted coming forward, and today’s apology from the BBC is a vindication of my complaint. It’s also a vindication for the others who have contacted me to express concerns about their own ­experiences on Strictly."

She added: "This apology means a great deal to me. So too does the fact that the BBC have acknowledged the steps that were put in place to support and protect me and past contestants were 'not enough'. What matters most is that lessons have been learned and the BBC makes the promised changes, to ensure others don’t experience the same ordeal.”

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