When Amanda Abbington tearfully told Giovanni Pernice that she had found lumps in her breasts, he responded like a perfect gentleman, his friends say.
The Italian dancer called his contacts and handed over the numbers of the doctors who had been recommended to him, they say.
That was the last he ever heard from her. Because she later quit the ballroom competition and explained to Strictly bosses that she feared she had cancer.
After detailing her shocking health scare in a newspaper interview last weekend, the ongoing story of Abbington’s dramatic departure from Strictly last October – which everyone has heard many times – was due to her ‘abuse’ and ‘bullying’ during rehearsals, which left her was abandoned. with PTSD – took a confusing turn.
“As far as everyone was concerned, Amanda left because she discovered some lumps in her breasts, which understandably made her fear she could develop cancer,” says a BBC source.
Amanda Abbington and Giovanni Pernice in Strictly Come Dancing last year
“Nobody wants anyone to go through that and there was a lot of kindness shown to Amanda. Gio was very concerned and wanted to help her in any way he could.
“The next thing is she has PTSD… the scenario has changed. None of it made sense. She has said she left for a completely different medical reason. It all seemed bizarre.”
The BBC’s five-month investigation into Abbington’s allegations ended last week with a report upholding six of 17 complaints she made against her 34-year-old dance partner. Then the 50-year-old Sherlock actress, who quit the show in week six, revealed intimate details of her cancer scare in recent days and said it was the reason she left.
‘In my last week, on Thursday morning, I was in the shower and found two lumps. After a mammogram a few months ago, I was completely free,” she said.
After a particularly grueling rehearsal, she said she “went to the bathroom, came back and said, ‘I’m going to the hospital now because I found two lumps in my breast this morning.’ She told the Sun on Sunday that leaving the rehearsal was “a healthier option than being in that room.”
To her relief, the lumps later turned out to be benign. Abbington’s early departure from Strictly came after weeks of tension between her and Pernice.
The BBC’s five-month investigation into Abbington’s allegations ended last week, with a report upholding six of the 17 complaints she made against her 34-year-old dance partner.
She says she raised issues about him with the BBC at the time and cameras were installed in the studio – at whose request, however, it is something they disagree on.
Abbington also claims the BBC rejected her pleas for CCTV footage, which Pernice said she had asked for – another point of contention between the pair. Then, in April, after Abbington instructed London law firm Carter-Ruck to make a formal complaint, the BBC launched its own investigation.
It is understood that Abbington is being represented on a pro-bono basis.
During her Channel 4 interview with Krishnan Guru-Murthy in July, she said she wanted to be compensated and last week it was reported that she was considering legal action.
During her interview on Newsnight last week, she said she was carefully assessing her situation ‘day by day’. BBC insiders say the company is ‘not keen’ on the idea of having to pay out.
“There’s a good chance Amanda will get into a fight,” says a source. ‘The BBC has apologized and it gave her a platform to tell her side on Newsnight.
‘The BBC thinks it has been very good for her, but it will be interesting to see what she does next.’
Pernice has yet to have his say on the saga, but on Saturday evening his spokeswoman issued a scathing statement on his behalf, accusing Abbington of misrepresenting the investigation’s findings.
She said: “The BBC completed its review almost a week ago. It is deeply worrying that Ms Abbington appears determined to continually misrepresent the review’s findings in TV and newspaper interviews.
‘Giovanni concentrates on his work at Ballando con le Stelle [the Italian version of the show] and supports his partner Bianca, and hopes Ms Abbington can quickly accept the findings of the investigation and look to the future.”
Abbington gave an interview to Newsnight last week in which she said she was carefully assessing her situation ‘day by day’.
Friends of the former strictly professional Giovanni have pointed out that he and Abbington did indeed have a jovial friendship
The six complaints accepted by the inquiry were predominantly the less serious, including one instance where Pernice told Abbington: “You have talent and you’re not using it.”
It was also confirmed that he had used derogatory language.
Meanwhile, the ballroom star was also found guilty of giving negative feedback, including throwing his arms in the air and saying ‘f***’. As a result, Pernice was told by the BBC that he had not adapted sufficiently to Abbington’s needs.
Of the two complaints upheld of a sexual nature, one saw Pernice grab his crotch and utter an obscene comment. He also told his dance partner that he wanted to “fuck her.”
That comment came after Abbington pulled off a big move in the training studio and Pernice was elated.
It is said that Giovanni is becoming increasingly furious because Abbington is throwing mud at him.
“He doesn’t know when she’s going to stop,” said a friend.
“We have no idea what she’s going to do next, it’s going to be absolutely ridiculous.”
Pernice’s frustrations are perhaps not surprising.
During Abbington’s newspaper interview, she made more claims about Pernice that were not corroborated by the BBC investigation.
Friends of the Sicilian-born star refer to a film in which Abbington claims he called her a “vegetable” to describe her as “lazy”, something she said she found particularly offensive because her fiancé is disabled.
The report accepted that it was not a form of bullying.
Instead, investigators accepted Pernice’s position that he used the term to describe her attitude — and not describe her as lazy.
Gio told the report that he used the word vegetable in the context of Amanda having weak arm positions. He also told them there was a language barrier. This was accepted by the investigation,” said a source close to Pernice.
The actress also said Pernice would tell her she was a “menopausal woman and I would still fuck you.” Sources close to him even claim that Abbington would describe herself as “a menopausal woman – which was accepted by investigators in the 30-page report.”
There was also no evidence to support the claim of these words [‘I’d f*** you’] were used in conjunction with the claim that Abbington was a postmenopausal woman, as alleged,” the review said.
“Gio is a man in his early thirties,” someone tells me. “He probably wouldn’t even know what menopause is or means, let alone use it as an insult, but that’s how Amanda would describe herself to Gio.”
Friends of the former strictly professional man point out that he and Abbington did indeed have a jovial friendship.
A friend said: ‘Contrary to what Amanda says now, they laughed a lot together.
‘Unfortunately she seems to have forgotten this now and seems to want to see him suffer, and the BBC is paying.’