Amanda Abbington breaks silence on Giovanni Pernice allegations

Amanda Abbington has broken her silence on the Giovanni Pernice misconduct allegations as she claimed the dancer was ‘abusive, cruel and mean.’

Speaking in her first interview since quitting Strictly Come Dancing in October, the actress, 50, said the professional’s behaviour was ‘unnecessary.’

Amanda abruptly left the BBC show citing ‘personal issues’ and hasn’t been seen on screen since, even quitting social media last month in the wake of her former dance partner’s sacking.

Giovanni, 33, was suspended while a BBC probe is underway over allegations made by Amanda and two other former celebrity partners. 

In an interview with The Sun, she said: ‘I found Giovanni’s behaviour unnecessary, abusive, cruel and mean. I couldn’t sit back and let him do that to other people.’

Amanda Abbington has broken her silence on the Giovanni Pernice misconduct allegations as she claimed the dancer was ‘abusive, cruel and mean’

Amanda continued: ‘I had to think long and hard about making a complaint because I knew the backlash I would get. But I would not have been able to live with myself for future people going on that show.’ 

‘It’s insane what has happened to me, with the death threats and backlash. I know the BBC have known about his behaviour for years, people had complained about him and flagged his behaviour to producers in the past and nothing was done. It wasn’t an isolated experience with me. I should never ever have danced with him.’ 

MailOnline has contacted the BBC and Giovanni’s representative for comment. 

Sources previously claimed Amanda, Ranvir Singh and Laura Whitmore had an ’emotional summit’ where they ‘compared notes’ about their time working with Giovanni on the show.

Amanda quit Strictly due to ‘personal reasons’ before reports she had demanded footage of their rehearsals after the experience in the competition left her with PTSD.

Meanwhile Ranvir complained about Giovanni to producers back in 2020, during their time on the show, while Laura said she ‘cried every day’ and felt ‘uncomfortable’ while dancing with him in 2016. 

The BBC are currently believed to be scouring through nine years of Strictly footage to confirm or deny claims from three celebrities.

It is claimed three past contestants are compiling dossiers to hand to their £700-an-hour lawyers before sending it to BBC bosses. 

Giovanni is working with combative legal firm Schillings and is expected to put forward transcripts to prove he acted fairly. 

A source close to the trio previously told MailOnline: ‘They are very unhappy with the way the BBC are handling this.

‘It’s one thing saying they are standing by him, but they feel as if Giovanni is being promoted and pushed centre stage in a bid to make them go away and keep quiet. It’s a kick in the teeth.

‘One of the reasons they wanted to meet up was to try and work on a way forward because they have no intention of just backing down and letting this just fade away.

‘All three have been impacted in different ways by what happened and they’ve agreed to speak again about how best they can get something done about it because they are genuinely worried about want went on and the fact someone else could end up experiencing what they went through.

‘But right now there’s a feeling that Gio is pretty much untouchable – especially given he is so close to Anton who thinks the world of him and can’t believe the stuff he’s been hearing claimed about his mate.’ 

MailOnline contacted BBC for comment at the time.