Giovanni Pernice revealed his true feelings about Amanda Abbington during an appearance on This Morning today (Tuesday, September 1).
The Italian dancer, 36, left Strictly in 2024 following allegations made by Amanda regarding his conduct. The BBC upheld several, but not all, of the actress’ complaints.
Giovanni Pernice talks Amanda Abbington Strictly scandal on This Morning
Today saw Giovanni sit down with Craig Doyle and Christine Lampard to share his side of the story.
Giovanni has a memoir coming out, in which he reveals he felt suicidal during the scandal. He also admitted that he felt as though his co-stars had turned their back on him.
Speaking to the duo, the dancer also hit back at claims that he’d been “sacked” from Strictly.
“I wasn’t fired from Strictly Come Dancing. I was just told we’re not doing your contract again, and in actual fact I went to a different show, the same job in a different country; the BBC are on the format. So if I was fired, I wouldn’t be able to do the same job in a different country,” he claimed.
“I went to Italy, and I won the same show in a different country, so I did have my small revenges, you know, in life and now got a beautiful girlfriend that makes me very happy.”
Giovanni on complaints that ended his Strictly scandal
When asked what complaints were upheld by the BBC, Giovanni said: “One of them is one of the words that I can’t use because we’re on TV, but it’s a word that every day all of us use. It’s about the tone set in the room; if you use that tone to me, I use the same tone to you, you know, using that word.”
Christine then asked whether the complaints and investigation had changed his approach in the rehearsal room.
“If you want to succeed, there’s only one way. Commitment, resilience, get the trophy, go home. That is what I demonstrated doing the same job in a different country and winning and coming second last year,” he said.
Giovanni Pernice reveals his true feelings about Amanda Abbington
The dancer then went on to reveal his true feelings about Amanda.
“Sometimes you can change the approach for sure but if I think that in the room everything is going perfectly, and I don’t know where the problem is, I don’t know how to change it.
“Honestly, I haven’t got any bad feeling towards Amanda. I think she wants to move forward and I moved forward a long time ago,” he said.
Christine then read out a statement from Amanda’s representatives: “In the past fortnight Mr Pernice has persisted in trying to reframe the BBC investigation and the findings that it made against him. To suggest he has not been given the chance to give his side is ludicrous given the thorough investigation conducted by the BBC which he was part of but – unsurprisingly – seems unhappy with the outcome.
“To suggest that the findings against him related only to use of swear words is also wrong, but both parties were asked keep the contents of the Investigation Report confidential. Falling the visitation the BBC apologised to me and paid me substantial compensation that speaks for itself.”
Read more: Amanda Abbington hits back at Giovanni Pernice as he’s branded a ‘monster’
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