Strictly’s Giovanni Pernice FINALLY breaks his silence on partner Amanda Abbington’s explosive exit after she ‘demanded footage of their rehearsals and claimed show left her with PTSD’

Strictly Come Dancing’s Giovanni Pernice has finally broken his silence on former celebrity partner Amanda Abbington’s explosive departure from the BBC show.

The actress, 52, quit the series midway through last year for ‘personal reasons’ amid claims of a feud between her and 33-year-old Giovanni, before reportedly demanding footage of their rehearsals after the experience in the competition left her with PTSD had left behind.

Speaking Only by invitation of the mirror podcast together with fellow dancer Anton Du Beke, 57, he said: ‘It’s a shame because in my opinion (Amanda) could have gone to the extreme.’

While judge Anton added: “I thought you and Amanda were great. I loved you’ and compared the Sherlock actress’s talents to 2019 winner Kelvin Fletcher.

After accusations of his “militant” teaching style, Giovanni admitted that he was a “perfectionist” but said this came from a “perspective of caring” and that he believed all other professional dancers were the same.

Saying, ‘In any part of the world, if you’re a professional dancer on one of these (Strictly) shows, you’ve got to make sure these people look as good as they can on Saturday night.’

“And when we end up getting good scores, I look back and say, ‘I did a great job.’ But we all care about our partners and we want that for them every week; to look great on a Saturday’.

He continued, “There is no specific way you are or should be with your celebrity. You play to their strengths, so the only thing that is constant is the fact that you have to do a show on Saturday night.”

It comes after MailOnline exclusively revealed that Amanda had dropped her complaint with the BBC and made no further contact with the Corporation about the matter.

Sources at the BBC said the ‘case is now closed’ and that they have ‘moved on’ after she asked to watch the recordings of their off-screen dancing after she left the series, citing ‘personal reasons’ .

Amanda also sought legal advice about Giovanni’s alleged behavior towards her, believing video footage could ‘support’ her claims.

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

A show insider told the Mail: ‘It was all baffling, but when Amanda contacted the BBC she wanted answers.

‘But she didn’t follow up and the case is now closed. Amanda said she left for a medical reason at the time, but it wasn’t PTSD.

‘Her complaint was of course looked into, but they were satisfied that Giovanni had done nothing wrong. The BBC was ready to fight her, Amanda’s reason for quitting Strictly was a completely different reason to her PTSD.

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

Amanda left the show in week five of October. It reportedly took her months to recover from her time in the program and apparently required therapy due to the “behavior she was exposed to.”

Speaking about her condition, Amanda shared The sun: ‘I was diagnosed with mild PTSD after Strictly for various reasons and I confidently told a few people about it, including things that were happening in my life at the time, both professionally and personally.’

A BBC spokesperson declined to comment at the time.

Amanda was praised by the judges for her performances during her time on the show, but it was claimed she was struggling behind the scenes.

An internal source said this The Telegraph: ‘It could be that she didn’t know what she was indulging in.

‘He (Giovanni) was quite tough and she found that difficult. If she wasn’t doing so well, it wouldn’t have helped.

‘She was with a partner who had a certain training style that she couldn’t cope with. I don’t know whether that has come to a head or whether something else is going on.’

Giovanni’s parents said the dancer was ‘just doing his job’ after Amanda’s shock departure from Strictly.

Giovanni’s father Piero and mother Rosalda admitted at the time that their son “trained for long hours but just did his job.”

Sparkling star Giovanni reportedly only got the news of Amanda’s departure a few hours before the official statement was released.

A source told this Daily star: ‘Amanda didn’t tell Giovanni that she had decided to leave the show. The first thing he heard was a call from a producer.

‘This really irritated him. He has barely heard from her in ten days. She hasn’t responded to messages or told him what’s going on.

‘He complained about it to friends. He’s frustrated. He fears the drama will harm his career and make him look bad.”

Amanda turned down the show’s December finale, where the stars of the year’s series who had previously been eliminated came together to do a group dance and celebrate with the winner.

A source said The mirror on why she wouldn’t be there: ‘They wanted to position her as still very much part of the Strictly family, but Amanda’s response to the invite was that she wouldn’t be back.

“It’s a shame because her departure was a sour note in the series this year.”

The Strictly insider added that her disapproval was “difficult” and upsetting for Giovanni because he doesn’t want people to see it “as a reflection on him.”

While the pair have “butted heads” at times, they added that Giovanni wishes her all the best.

Giovanni has reportedly fallen out with some of his former partners on the show.

In 2016, former Love Island presenter Laura Whitmore said she “cried every day” and felt “uncomfortable” while training with him.

She later prescribed Huff Post UK in 2018: ‘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 in the end, I was really broken, both mentally and physically.”

Giovanni is also said to have feuded with Good Morning Britain star Ranvir Singh in 2020 and ‘feuded’ with Richie Anderson in 2022.