Giovanni Pernice breaks his silence after Amanda Abbington 'claims Strictly left her with PTSD and demands footage of their rehearsals'

Strictly's Giovanni Pernice has broken his silence after his former dance partner Amanda Abbington allegedly claimed the show left her with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Italian professional dancer, 33, took to Instagram on Sunday after Amanda, who left the show in week five, reportedly demanded footage of their rehearsals to be reviewed.

The 51-year-old actress is said to have sought legal advice over the dancer's alleged behavior towards her and believes video footage could 'support' her claims.

Giovanni broke his silence on social media on Sunday evening for the first time since the messages surfaced.

The dancer once again shared a photo of himself teaching 250 students the Cha Cha Cha, Quickstep, Paso Doble and Argentine tango.

He wrote: '250 people!! This is how we spend our Sunday! I love you all.”

The class beamed at the camera after a day of learning the different dances.

The students' happiness is a far cry from reports that Amanda was 'shocked' by Giovanni's 'militant and aggressive' training style.

According to show insiders, Amanda called for cameras to be placed in rehearsal rooms as she became increasingly unhappy with his attitude.

After her request, The sun claims BBC bosses met with Giovanni about his behavior but no action was taken.

A source told the publication: 'Some professionals and crew members believe something should be done about it and that Giovanni should not return this year.

'The BBC stands behind Giovanni and will not be conducting an investigation. It's a shock to some on the show who think something needs to be done about his behavior.

'Amanda had a very difficult time with him and she is not the only one. Another four of his partners have spoken openly about how difficult it was to work with him, or have made this clear to the industry.”

MailOnline has contacted Giovanni's representatives for comment. The BBC declined to comment.

BBC bosses are baffled by Amanda Abbington's request for footage of her Strictly rehearsals.

Amanda makes a sudden departure from last year's series, citing “personal reasons.”

It was reported that she had quit after clashing with her dance partner Giovanni, but she dismissed claims of a fallout at the time.

Sources at the BBC are ready to fight the Sherlock actress over her claims the show traumatized her, saying she told them at the time she was quitting for another medical reason.

A source told the Mail: 'Amanda's reason for quitting Strictly was a completely different reason than her PTSD.

'She told production about a completely different medical condition and they were very supportive and did everything they could to help.

“Nobody seems to quite understand what's going on here.”

It is understood the first BBC chiefs were aware of her PTSD late last year when they received a request for the tapes.

Additional confusion arises as Amanda quickly shot down suggestions – made before the show aired in September – that she and Giovanni had had a falling out.

On Instagram, she dismissed the claims as “bulls****” and told people: “Shut up, they're b******s.”

During broadcasts, she and the Italian dancer – who has worked on the show since 2015 – were seen hugging each other and appeared to be friends.

A Strictly source said: 'All you saw in the studio was them hugging and kissing.'

It reportedly took months for Amanda to recover from her time in the program and apparently required therapy due to the “behavior she was exposed to.”

A source told The Sun: 'Everyone had a fantastic time but she was very stressed having to spend eight hours a day with Giovanni. She cried a lot and couldn't sleep or eat properly.'

The partners are said to have clashed for weeks during rehearsals, with the actress left 'affected' by the professional dancer's 'militant and aggressive' training style.

Giovanni is known as a 'perfectionist' and it is not the first time he has had problems with his famous partners.

In 2016, TV host Laura Whitmore said: 'I'm still not ready to talk in depth about my experiences on the show.

'I was placed with a dance partner who made me extremely uncomfortable and ended up feeling broken, I cried every day. And by the end I was really broken, both mentally and physically.”

In 2020, Giovanni fell out with Good Morning Britain presenter Ranvir Singh when she admitted she had a 'total meltdown' during rehearsals with him.

The ITV presenter told her co-star Kate Garraway that she and the dancer had a '20-minute separation' as things got tense during training.

She said the grueling rehearsals prompted her to walk outside and take a moment to collect herself after Giovanni “put me in my place.”

Amanda has been contacted for comment. Giovanni declined to comment.