Giovanni Pernice's six bombshells - nightmare celebrity remark to last Amanda Abbington text

was one of the longest serving dancers on – until he was paired with .

The Sherlock and Mr Selfridge star is said to have picked out Giovanni during the show’s ‘speed dating’ process, where celebs and the pro dancers meet for a quick dance and a chat.

At the beginning, Giovanni was happy with his choice of partner, believing Amanda was a great dancer who could even win the final with him. But it wasn’t long before things turned sour and within weeks of joining the show, Amanda had quit.

Not only that, but the 50-year-old went on to make a formal complaint about Giovanni, 34. This sparked a months-long investigation that is said to have cost the licence-fee taxpayers over £250,000.

In the end, . They included verbal bullying and harassment – such as using swear words, ‘belittling’ language and giving negative feedback to his partner. Though he was cleared of the most serious allegations of physical aggression.

As Giovanni gives his first interview since he , here are six bombshells that have come out of it - and he reveals what he plans to do now it's all over.

Rude banter

Days after being partnered with each other, Giovanni said Strictly bosses called him and Amanda in for a chat after noticing they were using bad language towards each other – wanting to check if either side was offended by it.

Giovanni revealed Amanda was ‘a laugh’, would use the c-word and was often the one who would start ‘dark jokes’. He said ‘rude banter’ was what they had from the very beginning.

When asked about it by producers, Giovanni said: “Amanda was like, ‘Oh yeah it’s fine, I call him that! I started it.” So at that time, he didn’t think there was any issue between them.

Secret WhatsApps

Just two weeks into training, Giovanni thought things were going well with Amanda – with her even sending texts telling him he was an “incredible teacher”.

But he later discovered she had been sending messages into the celebrity group saying she was unhappy.

Giovanni told the : “One of the celebrities came to me and said, ‘You didn’t have a great week, did you?’ I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ But Amanda had told them she had a horrible week - and that was week one, before the show had even started.”

Recording rehearsals

After becoming fearful Amanda might tell others ‘untruths’ about him, Giovanni said he began to film their training sessions on his phone to protect himself.

At that point he said he didn’t think Amanda was going to accuse him of anything, but “didn’t feel comfortable in the room, I didn’t feel safe” after finding out she was “telling two different versions of the story”.

At this point, producers began filming the sessions themselves and notified Amanda they would be doing so. However, Amanda later insisted it was her who asked for the rehearsals to be recorded.

Cancer scare and last text

In week six of the show in October 2023, Giovanni says he was “gutted” when he got a phone call from producers to say Amanda had quit the show.

Hours earlier, he said Amanda had told him she couldn’t concentrate after finding two lumps in her breasts while she was having a shower. That text from her would be the last she ever sent him.

Giovanni said he replied saying: “Please tell me it’s nothing serious.” He even called his doctors and asked about arrangements for her to have a scan.

His last message to Amanda was: “Can I help you? Please let me help you, forget about the dance, forget about the show, this is more important than anything.” But Amanda didn’t reply and there was no further communication between them.

'She's out to destroy me'

After Amanda made a formal complaint about him, Giovanni says he “didn’t know when she was going to stop”.

In the past few months, he’s admitted being regularly reduced to tears by everything that has happened and feeling depressed – especially when his parents were asked if he was a bully.

But he said the worst moment of all was when Amanda gave a TV interview saying some of her bullying allegations against him were of a ‘sexual nature’. This claim hasn’t been upheld by the BBC.

Giovanni revealed he “wanted to punch the television” but knew he had to remain silent while the investigation was still ongoing. He said: “It was the first time there was talk of anything sexual. Of course, I was worried it could destroy my career – the people that come to my shows are kids and women... it seemed like the only point was to destroy me.”

Days later in a newspaper, Amanda claimed Giovanni had said to her ‘You’re a 50-year-old menopausal woman but I’d still f*** you.’ The BBC report didn’t uphold this allegation either and a bewildered Giovanni confessed: “I had to ask my agent what the menopause means.”

New Strictly showdown

Though he left the show in June 2024 and is currently appearing on the Italian version of Strictly Come Dancing, Giovanni is set to have another showdown with the BBC in the coming days now the results of the report have been made public.

During the meeting, he is hoping he can address some issues about how he has been treated – and hasn’t ruled out a return to the show in the future.

He told the Mail: “I’d like to hear what they have to say to me. We need to have a chat about the whole thing. I’m glad that they got the result they did, but there’s a few points I want to talk to them about.”

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