The voice on the other end of the line was indignant, coming from a woman who had an awful lot to say – and who couldn’t have been angrier.
Last Sunday I received a call from actress and former Strictly star Amanda Abbington, who has taken legal action against the BBC and her professional dance partner, Giovanni Pernice, over her torrid time on the show. Her voice rose and she clearly felt a tremendous sense of injustice.
The purpose of her call was to convey her side of the story in the saga surrounding the Italian heartthrob’s teaching methods and whether his behavior had ever crossed a line.
Amanda Abbington and Giovanni Pernice on BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing last year. The actress clearly feels a huge sense of injustice about what happened
Ms Abbington, pictured in Strictly rehearsals, is one of three women who have hired £700-an-hour lawyers from leading London law firm Carter Ruck to pursue claims against Giovanni and the BBC.
The latest twist was over who asked the BBC to record their rehearsal sessions. Last week I had reported how Giovanni’s camp insisted he made the request because he was growing concerned about Amanda’s behavior – a claim the actress has now strongly objected to. ‘You got it wrong!’ she shouted. ‘I asked for recordings, it was me. Giovanni is nasty. He was terrible to some of us, to a group of us.”
Amanda went on to describe how her life was devastated by the experience, which has exploded since she abruptly quit the show midway through the last series. In January, she claimed she suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after working with Giovanni, and later complained about sustaining a bruised foot during training.
Last month it was confirmed that three women, including Amanda, had hired £700-an-hour lawyers from leading London law firm Carter Ruck to pursue claims against Giovanni and the BBC.
“You don’t understand how awful this all is,” Amanda told me.
‘Giovanni’s fans are starting to troll me now. I have had to leave social media and am receiving death threats.’
The phone call, which lasted seven and a half minutes, was significant. After months of only hinting that Giovanni was responsible for her untimely departure, this was the first time Amanda had been so candid.
Moreover, the actress also emphasized to me that she had complained about Giovanni’s behavior early on in the series. “I went to producers early on and told them about Giovanni,” she said.
And she lamented the consequences: ‘All this because I didn’t enjoy a television programme. Because of all this I didn’t enjoy it.’
No details have yet been released about how Giovanni allegedly behaved. But days after her call, the BBC released an unprecedented statement on the dispute. After weeks of silence, during which their press office ignored my questions or simply responded with ‘no comment’, a spokesperson promised that the broadcaster would conduct its investigation with ‘care, fairness and sensitivity to all involved’.
The spokesperson said: ‘When a complaint is made to the BBC, we assess and take the necessary steps to establish the facts, whether there is a matter that needs to be answered and, if necessary, what action should be taken.
‘All this is in the context of the BBC having a duty of care to everyone involved in a complaint – that includes those who made the complaint and those who are complained about.
The actress also insisted to Katie Hind that she had complained about Giovanni’s behavior early on in the series
The dancer, who quit Strictly in April, has started a battle by hiring rival law firm Schillings
‘While we know our shows have been positive experiences for many of the participants, we will always look at any issues with care, fairness and sensitivity to all involved.’
Sources familiar with the situation say the BBC came under pressure from Amanda’s team to publicly say it was she who asked to record the rehearsals.
A source said: ‘It’s absolutely terrible. Amanda wanted the BBC to set the record straight, to confirm her version of events. But of course they can’t. It just shows that if she doesn’t like what’s being said, she shouts about it loudly.”
But in what is quickly becoming a sequined ‘he-said, she-said’, Team Giovanni still insists it was he who asked to film the rehearsals, not them, and says the footage was taken daily assessed.
A friend tells me: ‘Why would everyone believe her and no one believe Gio? It feels like she wants to finish him off and make sure the BBC is on her side. Giovanni wants a fair trial. He has always said he will participate in any investigation if requested.”
Ten days ago the dancer, who quit Strictly in April, launched a fight by hiring rival law firm Schillings. His case is being handled by Joelle Rich, 39, who represented Johnny Depp in his 2020 defamation trial.
Whatever the outcome, the coming months are likely to be exciting.
As for her call to me, Amanda sent a follow-up message 20 minutes later saying, “I need to apologize again for getting angry, I’m very sorry.”
The biggest loser in this affair is of course the show itself. Later this year, Strictly will celebrate its 20th anniversary – a milestone for producers who want to be a party, not embroiled in controversy. But with 33-year-old Giovanni absent, some of its 10 million viewers feel the show has been tarnished.
Even some senior insiders at the BBC are baffled that the dancer is no longer in the line-up after nine years. As someone put it to me: ‘Everything would be so much better if Gio was in it.’