By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-09-02 10:32:33 | Updated at 2026-09-02 11:10:28
1 hour ago
Ex-Strictly Come Dancing star Giovanni Pernice has detailed the "clash" which took place between himself and actress Amanda Abbington as he releases a tell-all book about his life.
Speaking to GB News, the former BBC professional dancer sat down with Breakfast hosts Ellie Costello and Alex Armstrong as he reflected on the "dark times" he faced.
In 2024, Mr Pernice left the BBC competition show following bullying and harassment claims made by Ms Abbington.
The BBC investigated the ex-Strictly star over 16 allegations in total, upholding six and clearing him of 10 of the most serious accusations.
Mr Pernice has now released a new book, 'Gio taking the lead', as he sets out to move on and continue thriving in his dancing career.
Sharing his side of the investigation, Mr Pernice told GB News that the BBC's investigation was the "right thing to do", but what was originally deemed a "short" probe turned into "seven months" of questioning.
He said: "There was an investigation and I was happy that the BBC wanted to do a job which was to investigate somebody's complaint. This was the right thing for them to do.
"It was an investigation that was supposed to be quite short, but then ended up to be seven months, and at the end, there was a finding of some allegations, and some of them were not upheld, and it went the way it went, let's put it this way."
Former Strictly Come Dancing star Giovanni Pernice has sat down with GB News after releasing his tell-all book
GB NEWS
He admitted he was "glad" that some of the most serious of accusations were not upheld, adding: "Some of the allegations upheld was the fact that I didn't give her a break. I guess she's quite mature enough to ask for a break if she wanted to.
"And then using other words, as I always said, we were in the room using the same words. So some of the allegations were just not very important to uphold, but I guess they had to do it."
Asked whether there was a clash of personalities between the two of them, Mr Pernice agreed that it was a "bad pairing from the start".
He told GB News: "For us, dancing is a sport, it's a discipline, and to be dancing at high levels, you've got to spend time and you've got to be resilient in what you want to achieve.
"So maybe it was just a clash there, a clash of personality, I'm not entirely sure. Because for me, in the room, everything was absolutely fine. I never had any complaints in the room."
Amanda Abbington sparked a BBC probe into Strictly Come Dancing and Giovanni Pernice, leading to his exit in 2024
Praising Ms Abbington's ability, Mr Pernice stressed that she was an "amazing dancer", and he simply "wanted to get the best out of her".
He said: "I'm a very dedicated person and I always want to achieve the best. Amanda was an absolutely incredible dancer, so my job is to take out the best from my partners, and I was very happy because I thought she would be going through the final, probably winning the show.
"So when I've got talent in front of me, I want to get the best out of them, and perhaps I was looking too positively into the competition."
Noting the impact that the allegations had on him personally, the ex-Strictly star revealed that he faced "dark times" and felt "alone" after leaving the show.
Mr Pernice told GB News that he went to 'dark places' as a result of the investigation
GB NEWS
He said: "Strictly was my family, and I established my friendships with people from Strictly Come Dancing, and some of the producers were a very good friend of mine. Spending Christmas together, Easter together, even helping family of some of the producers.
"And then when all this happened, they all disappeared, because they didn't want to be seen with me or they couldn't talk to me. So when you don't have anybody next to you when you need it, you're going to dark places because you feel alone.
"And then when you feel alone, you can't go out the house because paparazzi follows you everywhere, or newspapers write about anything, so it was very dark in terms of I didn't know what to do."
Mr Pernice concluded: "But then luckily the investigation finished and they cleared me of the most serious allegations, so I went to do the same job in a different country, which was my little revenge, winning the show.
"So basically doing the same show in a different country and winning it, and then I found my girlfriend, so happy days."
In a statement, a spokesman for Amanda Abbington said: "In the past fortnight Mr Pernice has persisted in trying to reframe the BBC investigation and the findings that it made against him.
"To suggest he has not been given the chance to give his aside of the story is ludicrous, given the through investigation conducted by the BBC which he was part of, but unsurprising - seems unhappy with the outcome.
"To suggest that the finding against him related only to use of swear words is also wrong, but both parties were asked to keep the contents of the investigation report confidential.
"Following the investigation the BBC apologised to me and paid me substantial compensation: that speaks for itself."
The BBC has said of the investigation: "We have improved welfare on the show, including having a chaperone present “at all times” during training-room rehearsals."
