Giovanni Pernice claims he 'never argued' with Amanda Abbington in bombshell interview

Giovanni Pernice has broken his silence on the Strictly Come Dancing controversy involving actress Amanda Abbington, who accused him of "bullying" her during rehearsals. The Italian professional dancer decided to "set the record straight", sharing his version of events in a candid interview with stand-in presenter Christine Lampard on ITV's Lorraine.

He didn't hold back as he used the platform to convey his message. While acknowledging that his training methods might have been "strict", he insisted: "Me and Amanda never had an argument."

Seemingly perplexed by some of the allegations presented to BBC officials, Giovanni dismissed suggestions that he had been "aggressive" towards Amanda.

He admitted that he may have been "frustrated" at times, but explained to Christine that it was because his celebrity partner was "brilliant" and a highly "talented dancer" whom he wanted to push to reach her "full potential".

The case underwent a high-level review within the broadcasting giant, and the complaints procedure found that verbal bullying and harassment were substantiated, but allegations of physical aggression were not.

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The Sherlock actress rejected the BBC's apology, slammed the review as "vindication" of her complaint, and expressed hope that others would now feel "more confident" that their cases would be taken seriously, reports the Mirror.

Giovanni revealed that he felt "relieved" after Amanda's accusations of him being "threatening and abusive" were proven to be unfounded. Christine, seeking to understand the breakdown in their relationship, asked: "So where was the disconnect? What happened here? So for her to say that you were 'a bully', you're clearly not thinking that are you?"

Giovanni responded firmly, stating: "First of all the investigation didn't find me to be a bully and that's exactly why I feel relieved now and it's important to put that straight because 'bully' is a big word."

The champion dancer then reflected on their time together during Strictly, saying: "At that time, and as I said before, everything was great. All I had was 'Giovanni you're an amazing teacher' and 'Giovanni you're great' and then Amanda said she left because of 'health conditions'."

He also shared his final "message" to Amanda before the scandal erupted and a formal complaint was lodged with the broadcaster.

Giovanni remembered: "And the last message I had with Amanda was 'please let me know how this goes, I want to help you'. So the last message I sent to her was 'I will fund for you a doctor, please let's sort this out because it is more important than any steps.' This was the last message and last conversation with Amanda."

Lorraine airs weekdays on ITV1, from 9am.