Strictly Come Dancing probe clears Giovanni Pernice of physical abuse allegations but upholds other complaints.
Giovanni Pernice, the Italian professional dancer who has been a part of Strictly Come Dancing for nearly a decade, expressed his relief on Sunday night after being cleared of a number of allegations against him. He described feeling ‘vindicated’ following months of controversy. The dancer broke his silence on social media after the conclusion of the investigation into claims made against him on the show. Sharing a video on Instagram, the 34-year-old admitted that the past six or seven months had been challenging as he “wanted to keep the confidentiality and privacy of the review”.
Addressing his followers, Giovanni said: “It was difficult because, you know, reading stuff that were untrue, wasn’t the nicest time of my life lets be honest. But today I’m happy because, you know, at the beginning there were very very serious allegations thrown out at me but as in today, none of the serious allegations have been upheld. All the threatening, abusive, harassment behaviour allegations have not been upheld.”
He continued by acknowledging the challenges of dancing, describing it as a sport that could lead to frustration for teachers, dancers, and performers. However, he emphasised that any frustration stemmed from caring about the craft. In a detailed statement, he expressed his commitment to bringing out the “best in my partner”, acknowledging that he could sometimes become “frustrated”. However, he defended his actions as “being professional” and insisted he enjoyed doing so, reports the Mirror.
After a six-month investigation into Amanda Abbington’s allegations, bosses concluded that the Italian dancer was not physically abusive. However, Amanda’s complaints about verbal bullying and harassment were validated. Out of a total of 16 allegations against Pernice, six were substantiated. Some of these included Giovanni using profanity.
Following the findings of the report, the BBC apologised to former contestant Amanda Abbington, confirming it had upheld “some, but not all, of the complaints made”. Among the validated complaints were claims of “isolated incidents where Giovanni swore or threw his hands in the air”. The review stated, “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, 34, was providing “too much negative feedback”. An individual recounted an incident where Giovanni Pernice grabbed his crotch and made a lewd comment, also telling his dance partner he “wanted to f*** her”. However, someone close to Giovanni insisted: “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 coarse back.”
Giovanni 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.”