Giovanni Pernice has claimed he reached out to Amanda Abbington after a health scare – but never heard from her again.
The dancer is opening up after his Strictly scandal, which saw Sherlock actress Amanda – his 2023 celeb dance partner – accuse him of bullying behaviour. The BBC conducted a review and later said it “upheld some, but not all, of the complaints made”. It is understood that some complaints of verbal bullying were upheld, but claims of any physical aggression were not, and that in total six out of 17 complaints against Giovanni were upheld.
The dancer – who had denied the allegations against him - has now opened up to the Daily Mail, telling his story and detailing how concerned he was when Amanda quit the BBC ballroom show early.
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The star left Strictly just a few weeks in, at the time telling fans on Instagram that it was for "personal reasons". She has since been quoted as saying that she had found breast lumps, which later turned out to be benign.
Giovanni has now said Amanda had told him that she had found the lumps and was worried about the possibility of cancer. He told the Mail how he then received a call from the production team saying that Amanda had left the series and that he was “gutted”.
He said of the conversation he had with the star: “Amanda told me that she couldn't concentrate because while she was having a shower she had found two lumps. I said, ‘Please tell me it's nothing serious’ and the first thing I did was call my doctor and tried to organise for her to have a scan right away’.
“So the last message between us was me saying to her, ‘Can I help you? Please let me help you, forget about the dance, forget about the show, this is more important than anything’,” he said. “This was the last time I heard from Amanda.”
After leaving the show, Amanda went on to make complaints about Giovanni’s behaviour.
Last month the BBC statement on the matter said: “The BBC has now concluded its review into the complaints made by Amanda Abbington against Giovanni Pernice. We take any allegations of bullying and harassment very seriously and this review has taken time due to its complex nature and our desire to ensure a rigorous and robust process was undertaken.
“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, of the complaints made. 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. At the time, although the production team took steps to address the issues as they understood them, ultimately these were not enough. This is why the measures we have taken to further strengthen our existing protocols are so important.”
Daily Star has contacted representatives for Amanda for comment.
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