Amanda Abbington opens up new front in Strictly war by claiming Giovanni Pernice made a shocking sexual gesture during rehearsals as she says she is considering taking further action against the BBC

Amanda Abbington has claimed Giovanni Pernice made a shocking sexual gesture towards her after she hit a good dance move during rehearsals for Strictly Come Dancing.

The actress, 52, said she is considering further action against the BBC after the Corporation apologized following her complaints about Mr Pernice, 34.

In an interview with Victoria Derbyshire on Newsnight on Wednesday, Ms Abbington described her experience in the rehearsal room with Mr Pernice, where she said she “lost all sense of reality”.

She said: ‘There were two allegations of inappropriate conduct of a sexual naturec and these were upheld. One of them was physical and the other was verbal.

‘The physical one was that when I got a dance move right, he would sketch his erection in his pants and tell me that my dance move had made that possible.

‘The other sexual allegation was verbal and was not a separate, isolated incident, but occurred over a period of seven weeks.’

Asked by Ms Derbyshire how she reacted to the sexual gesture, Ms Abbington said: ‘Being in this bubble of Strictly and being in a room with someone, I was being verbally abused and working without a break or this happened.

‘It was very difficult, when you are there for seven hours a day, you lose all sense of reality.’

A spokesman for Mr Pernice said they disagreed with Abbington’s interpretation of the report and called it another attempt to damage Giovanni’s reputation.

When the actress asked Newnight how she will move forward now that the report has been published, she said she receives “daily guidance from my lawyer.”

Of the 17 allegations, the BBC has accepted six, some of which relate to the use of swear words against Mr Pernice. The report found that his language could be ‘disparaging’.

The BBC also agreed with Ms Abbington that it appeared he sometimes gave her overly negative feedback.

Ms Abbington also believes there is a ‘major’ reason why she believes other allegations she has made have not been upheld.

The star told Newsnight that the ordeal after working with Mr Pernice had been the hardest of her life.

“It’s been one of the worst years of my life, I’ve been through a lot, women have been through a lot,” she said.

“I’ve had to deal with a lot of horrible things that kept happening just because I complained about it.”

Ms Abbington also said she first complained to Strictly producers after ‘about three or four days’ and was ‘very sorry’.

Shortly afterwards, cameras were placed at their rehearsals.

Ms Abbington explained how she met other celebrities who previously worked with Pernice on the BBC show.

Abbington revealed she invited the group to her home, saying: “We were all crying, we were all in tears.

“We wanted to make sure we weren’t alone and thought this had just happened to us.”

“Everyone I spoke to all said the same thing, it wasn’t pleasant and it wasn’t what everyone was going through in the other [rehearsal] rooms.’

Abbington insisted she had not taken the decision to complain to BBC producers lightly, explaining: ‘I am open to criticism. I don’t create problems or problems where there aren’t any.’

“I worked as an actress for 32 years, in a job that started the Me Too movement, and I’ve never had to give up my job or experienced anything like I did in that rehearsal room. I never make accusations lightly.”

On Tuesday it was revealed that among six complaints accepted by the Corporation’s HR bosses against professional dancer Pernice was a comment in which he told Abbington: ‘You have talent and you’re not using it.’

It is one of Mr Pernice’s misdeeds that may now be exposed after the long-awaited verdict was unveiled on Monday, which acquitted him of the most serious charges of physical aggression but upheld verbal bullying and intimidation.

Meanwhile, Giovanni said he was ‘pleased’ to be cleared of ‘threatening and insulting behaviour’.

The report also detailed how they had accepted six of Ms Abbington’s 17 allegations. The report said Mr Pernice – a perfectionist – ‘swore and used what could be described as derogatory language’, which amounted to bullying behaviour.

The BBC apologized to the former Sherlock actress and also thanked her for coming forward to express her grievances.

In the report of the six-month investigation that cost license fee payers more than £250,000, investigators found the Italian dancer had used derogatory language. On another occasion he said: ‘I’m tired of it, if you want to look damned, I don’t care.’

Ms Abbington’s complaint that Mr Pernice would become frustrated with her as he taught her to dance was also upheld by the panel. However, it can be revealed that he told her, “You have so much talent and you’re not using it.”

Another time he told her, “I don’t know how to ask you anymore,” while in another comment he told her, “It’s been four days now and I don’t know what to do,” it was also reported behavior considered unlawful.

In another outburst, Mr Pernice, 34, said ‘f*****’ as he taught her how to perform a routine.

Meanwhile, accusations that the Sicily-born ballroom star had also given negative feedback were confirmed. An example of this was him throwing his arms in the air and saying ‘f***’. As a result, Mr Pernice was told by the BBC that he had not adapted sufficiently to Ms Abbington’s needs.

Of the two complaints upheld of a sexual nature, Mr Pernice was seen grabbing his crotch and making an obscene comment. He also told his dance partner that he wanted to “fuck her.” That comment came after Ms. Abbington made a great move in the training studio and Mr. Pernice was elated.

Those close to him said Ms Abbington enjoyed the ‘banter’ and the BBC confirmed that while it was inappropriate behavior for the workplace, it was intended as jokes, humor and compliments on Ms Abbington’s dancing. The review found it to be a two-way, consensual way of talking and behaving.

Despite many of Ms Abbington’s serious allegations being made public by the BBC, they still said sorry to her. In a statement released on Monday, they said: ‘The BBC has now concluded its investigation into Amanda Abbington’s complaints against Giovanni Pernice.

‘We have assessed the complaints and found some, but not all, of the complaints to be well-founded. We would like to apologize to Amanda Abbington and thank her for coming and participating.

“We know this wouldn’t have been easy.”

In response, Ms Abbington said: ‘As the BBC indicated in its statement today, my decision to come forward and complain about Giovanni Pernice’s behavior towards me was not an easy one.

‘In the days, weeks and months since I contacted the BBC, I have been accused of being a liar, a troublemaker and ‘crazy and unstable’.

The BBC launched an investigation in April after Ms Abbington made a formal complaint to them about Mr Pernice.

It came three months after she told a red top newspaper that she had post-traumatic stress disorder from her time on Strictly.

Speaking about the end of the review, Mr Pernice told the Mail: ‘I’m glad the review has finally come to an end. I am relieved that the accusations that I threatened and insulted turned out to be untrue.

‘It’s been an extremely difficult year, reading story after story and not being able to say anything back, because I respected the integrity of the review, which is what the BBC asked everyone to do.

‘I’ve loved my time on Strictly and made some great memories. But now I’m completely focused on Dancing With The Stars in Italy and supporting my dance partner Bianca.

‘I am grateful to everyone who has supported me at this time. I honestly don’t know how I would have gotten through this without the love and faith of my family, friends, colleagues and fans.”