Giovanni Pernice has hit back at claims he didn’t offer Amanda Abbington a break during Strictly Come Dancing rehearsals.
The professional dancer emphasized “she’s mature enough to ask” for a break while discussing one of the allegations against him in 2023.
The BBC investigated Giovanni on a total of sixteen charges, confirming six and acquitting him of ten of the most serious charges.
Giovanni will soon release his new book Taking The Lead, in which he expresses his anger at the BBC over its handling of the clash that led to his Strictly exit.
After his contract with the BBC was not renewed, Giovanni won the Italian version in 2024 with his current girlfriend Bianca Guaccero.
Giovanni called the triumph his ‘revenge’ when he appeared on GB News on Wednesday to promote his new book.
“Some of the allegations made were the fact that I didn’t give her any rest,” he explained. “I think she’s quite mature enough to ask for a break if she wanted to.”
Giovanni Pernice has hit back at claims he didn’t offer Amanda Abbington a break during Strictly Come Dancing rehearsals
The professional dancer insisted ‘she’s mature enough to ask’ for a break while discussing one of the allegations against him in 2023
“And when we used different words, like I always said, we used the same words in the room. So some of the accusations weren’t that important to uphold, but I think they had to be done.”
Giovanni concluded: ‘But then fortunately the investigation was completed and they cleared me of the most serious charges, so I went to do the same job in another country, which was my little revenge: winning the show.
“So basically doing the same show in another country and winning it, and then I found my girlfriend, so happy days.”
Viewers this morning have criticized ‘tough’ presenters Craig Doyle and Christine Lampard for ‘interrogating’ Giovanni during Tuesday’s show.
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.
Fans took to social media to say they felt ‘uncomfortable’ watching the tense exchange as they criticized the hosts’ handling of the interview.
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 is not a book dedicated to 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.
After his Strictly contract with the BBC was not renewed, Giovanni won the Italian version in 2024 with his now girlfriend Bianca Guaccero, which he called the best ‘revenge’.
“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.’
Fans shared their anger at X after the awkward interview aired, as they felt Craig and Christine’s opinions were “biased.”
Users commented: ‘The This Morning presenters were clearly very biased towards Amanda Abbington. Uncomfortable viewing. I would be furious if I were Giovanni Pernice’;
‘Why are the presenters so hard on Giovanni AGAIN. He is the innocent party in all of this. This morning they should be ashamed. He’s just promoting his book. No one is interested in Amanda?’;
‘I was shouting at the television… he was treated very unfairly… I think Craig was very harsh, but I bet he’s being told to say those things, he looked very uncomfortable… I was disgusted’;
‘I agree. Christine’s facial expression, tone and body language were awful. Communicating contempt and aggression. It was a shame.’
This morning viewers criticized ‘tough’ presenters Craig Doyle and Christine Lampard for ‘interrogating’ Giovanni during the show on Tuesday
The Daily Mail has reached out to Craig and Christine’s representatives for comment.
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 quite 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.
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.’
The BBC investigated Giovanni on a total of sixteen allegations, confirming six allegations and acquitting him of ten of the most serious charges
Fans criticized Craig and Christine’s interview technique, with some calling it ‘an interrogation’
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.
‘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.’
