‘What Graziano did makes Giovanni look like a pussy cat’: Inside the Strictly Come Dancing scandal, Zara McDermott’s ‘deeply unpleasant’ ordeal… and who blew the whistle

Strictly Come Dancing star Graziano Di Prima has been sacked by BBC bosses after he kicked and punched his former partner Zara McDermott.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Ms McDermott, who starred alongside the Italian dancer in last year’s series, was the victim of repeated physical and verbal abuse behind the scenes of the show on Saturday night.

She was upset by his behaviour but did not report it to the BBC. Instead, junior production staff came forward with their findings during the investigation into Giovanni Pernice.

A Strictly source said: “Graziano’s abuse continued, he was kicking and punching her. There were multiple occasions where there was both physical and verbal abuse. It was more physical than verbal but it was all horrible.

“There were times when he did horrible things, it was really horrible. What he did makes Giovanni look like a pussy cat.”

The departure of the Sicilian-born Di Prima comes just weeks after he was announced in the line-up for the new season of Strictly’s 20th anniversary series. He will be replaced by Aljaž Škorjanec, who has returned to the show two years after his surprise departure from the BBC last Monday.

And on Wednesday, the Ny Breaking revealed that a second complaint had been made to BBC bosses about a strange dancer on the show, a move that senior figures at the show now fear will “seriously damage” its appeal to millions of fans. One said: “It’s on its knees, this is a crisis.”

The scandal began when a junior member of the Strictly production team witnessed beloved professional dancer Di Prima physically assault former Love Island contestant and now documentary maker Ms McDermott. He was horrified.

However, they did not dare to say anything, because they were afraid that she would be removed from her position. Therefore, they kept their mouths shut. However, others also witnessed his unpleasant behavior.

When the BBC launched an investigation into Di Prima’s Strictly colleague Giovanni Pernice after Amanda Abbington claimed he had bullied her, they knew this was their chance to speak out.

Earlier this month, Ms McDermott agreed to attend a meeting with BBC HR bosses and after discussions with the highest echelons of the BBC, Di Prima was sacked.

The source added: ‘It was awful for Zara, she had to endure some very unpleasant times at the hands of Graziano during the series last year. She’s still upset that it’s all happening but good on her for speaking out about it.

“There was no doubt that Graziano had to go. It was terrible for Zara, but the people around her are very proud of her for doing this. It is not always easy to denounce this kind of behavior. The production staff who saw what happened and reported it also deserve credit.

‘The BBC also dealt with it quickly.’

Yesterday, a Strictly spokesperson confirmed Di Prima’s departure in a statement, which read: ‘We can confirm that Graziano Di Prima will no longer be part of the line-up of professional dancers for the upcoming series of Strictly Come Dancing.

“While we never comment on individual cases, the BBC is known to have robust duty of care procedures in place. If concerns are raised, we will always take them seriously and take action as quickly as possible.”

Shortly before, Graziano himself had attempted to present his side of the story with an Instagram post in which he admitted wrongdoing. In a post that was quickly deleted, he wrote: ‘I deeply regret the events that led to my departure from Strictly. My intense passion and determination to win may have affected my training regime.’

Di Prima, who joined Strictly in 2018 and previously worked with DJ Vick Hope, Loose Women star Judi Love and reached the quarter-finals with actor Kym Marsh in 2022, was eliminated in week six of the 2023 series.

The BBC’s swift action in sacking Di Prima raises questions as to why it has yet to make a decision on Mr Pernice, who has been the subject of a BBC investigation since May after former Sherlock star Abbington claimed he bruised her toe.

Sources close to Mr Pernice say he is fully confident of being acquitted, but there is anger that he has had to wait so long. Insiders also say the wide-ranging investigation will now portray Mr Pernice, 33, as a potential “small fish” in the potential demise of Strictly.

A friend of the star said: “It’s becoming outrageous now that he’s had to wait so long. The BBC have shown they can be efficient and deal with these things quickly, but Gio’s experience has been a nightmare.”

He quit the show after nine years after former Sherlock actress Amanda Abbington claimed he bullied her during training.

In May it was revealed that she had hired London law firm Carter Ruck to represent her against the BBC.

A well-informed source said of the investigation: ‘Isn’t it astonishing that the BBC can so easily make a decision, single out Graziano and sack him if there is indeed misconduct, but it is not so easy to make a decision on Amanda’s unsubstantiated claims.

“What happened to Zara puts Amanda’s claims into perspective. It all seems very, very small.”

The abuse will undoubtedly jeopardise the future of Saturday night’s favourites as the team prepares for its 20th anniversary in a few weeks.

According to an insider to the show, BBC bosses are in crisis and are fully aware that it will be “very difficult, if not impossible” to start the next series and put the scandals behind them.

“It’s chaos,” they added. “The future looks bleak, it was such a bright, beautiful, happy show, but now some dark sides are coming up.”

‘It’s going to take a really good line-up to save Strictly this year.’

Strictly is now expected to come under intense scrutiny after it emerged that it did not conduct psychological testing on its celebrity contestants, unlike other shows including its ITV rival Dancing On Ice.

Some of the show’s stars have already admitted that the BBC failed in its duty of care towards them.