Giovanni Pernice had a tense exchange with Craig Doyle and Christine Lampard on This Morning on Tuesday.
He was on the show to promote his new book, Taking The Lead, in which he expresses his anger at the BBC over its handling of the 2023 clash with actress Amanda Abbington that led to his departure from Strictly.
During the interview, a frustrated Giovanni, 35, clashed with Craig as he insisted he had no intention of dredging up the scandal by writing his memoirs.
Craig was keen to emphasize Amanda’s “side of the story” during the live segment, telling the professional dancer, “I understand you want to express your opinion,” before Giovanni interrupted and firmly told him, “It’s the story of my life, it’s not a book dedicated to the research.”
“It’s hard to move on though when you put something like that in the book,” Craig replied.
“The purpose of the book is to thank all the people who supported me along the way,” Giovanni declined.
Giovanni Pernice had a tense exchange with Craig Doyle and Christine Lampard on This Morning on Tuesday
He was on the show to promote his new book, in which he expresses his anger at the BBC over its handling of the 2023 clash with Amanda Abbington, which led to his departure from Strictly.
“Secondly, instead of me going and doing every interview possible, it was to write down what is actually factual and what my position is. I followed the rules, I waited until the investigation was finished. It’s part of my memoir, it’s part of my life.
“But it’s the part of the memoir that gets it serialized and you on the couch,” Craig insisted. A clearly frustrated Giovanni said: ‘The book wasn’t meant to be on This Morning.’
The BBC investigated Giovanni on a total of sixteen charges, confirming six and acquitting him of ten of the most serious charges.
Giovanni reiterated that he was not fired from the dance show, but his contract was not renewed.
Craig started the exciting interview by pointing out that in the dance world “You do develop a relationship when you train, and that’s kind of hard.”
‘When that world meets the showbiz world, like Strictly, how difficult is that when you bring that competitive nature, that tough character? Like with Amanda.’
Giovanni replied: ‘I always say it depends on what you want to achieve.’
‘Over the years I’ve had nine celebrities on Strictly, some of whom asked me, ‘Can we do more?’ Some of them just want to do an hour, get paid and go home. It depends who you have in front of you. Our job is to understand them and put as much pressure on them as possible.”
Craig then asked specifically about the “breakdown” of Giovanni’s relationship with Amanda and the accusations made against him.
At the end of the interview, a frustrated Giovanni clashed with Craig as he insisted he had not intended to dredge up the scandal by writing his memoirs.
The BBC investigated Giovanni on a total of sixteen allegations, confirming six allegations and acquitting him of ten of the most serious charges
Giovanni again emphasized that he had matched “the tone of the room”, adding that he now feels comfortable talking about the difficult time as he waited for the end of the BBC investigation and the recovery of his mental health.
However, Craig told him: “I appreciate it was a difficult time, but it was also a difficult time for Amanda. Let’s be honest, she wouldn’t have gone through the whole process if she didn’t feel like there was something in it.”
‘She also got a payout and she now says you’re underestimating things a bit. She looks at this situation very differently than you do.’
Giovanni responded, saying he “said facts, this is what was enforced, this is what was not enforced.”
Craig interrupted to ask him if he could now think about the complaints that were upheld, and asked, “Do you see now what you did wrong there?”
‘I’m not here to justify myself, my life moved on, I’m happy now. I went to Italy, I won the same show in another country. I’ve had some small revenges in life, and now I have a new girlfriend who I’m very happy with.’
Christine then read a statement through Amanda’s spokesperson.
It said: ‘Over the past two weeks, Mr Pernice has persisted in his attempts to overhaul the BBC investigation and the findings it made against him.
Craig interrupted to ask him if he could now think about the complaints that were upheld, and asked, “Do you see now what you did wrong there?”
‘It is ridiculous to suggest he was not given the opportunity to give his side of the story, given the thorough BBC investigation he was part of, but he appears – unsurprisingly – unhappy with the outcome.
‘It is also wrong to suggest that the findings against him related only to the use of swear words, but both parties were asked to keep the contents of the investigation report confidential.
‘Following the investigation, the BBC has apologized to me and paid me substantial compensation: that goes without saying.’
Giovanni, who won the Italian version of Strictly in 2024 with his current girlfriend Bianca Guaccero, was asked by Christine if he had ‘changed his approach with his new partner’ on the Italian show.
“The last time we did an interview you asked me the same question,” Giovanni replied curtly. “And I will answer in like manner.”
Fans criticized Craig and Christine’s interview technique, with some calling it ‘an interrogation’
He reiterated that he felt no need to overhaul his training methods after leaving Strictly, stressing: ‘If you want to succeed, there is only one way to succeed. Commitment, resilience, getting a trophy, going home.
‘That’s it. I show this by doing the same job in another country and winning and last year we came second.’
He noted that sometimes the approach can ‘change’, but claimed that this cannot happen if he thinks ‘in the room everything is going perfectly’.
“Honestly, I don’t have any bad feelings towards Amanda. I think she wants to move forward, I moved forward a long time ago.
“Like she said, we have to keep everything private and confidential. This is my first interview after two years.’
Fans criticized Craig and Christine’s interview technique, with some calling it “an interrogation.”
“Giovanni is well within his rights to have his say once everyone has provided his or her input,” wrote a viewer on
“It wasn’t a one-sided interrogation anymore,” another agreed.
