Giovanni Pernice, the Italian professional dancer known for his years on BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, has said the "Strictly family doesn't exist" as he opened up about his fallout with former celebrity partner Amanda Abbington, which he claims left him with a heart condition.
Pernice left the long-running dance competition after a bitter row with Abbington in 2023, when the actress accused him of "vile abuse" and prompted an official enquiry from the BBC.
Pernice joined Strictly Come Dancing as a professional dancer in 2015 and went on to win the show's Glitterball Trophy in 2021 with celebrity partner Rose Ayling-Ellis.
Pernice has since said the fallout with Abbington left him suicidal. Abbington, who received an apology and what has been described as a "substantial payout," said he is "grossly mischaracterising" what happened between them.
In his new memoir, Gio: Taking the Lead by Giovanni Pernice, he claimed the stress caused by the allegations led him to develop an "inflammation of the heart."
Giovanni Pernice on Strictly 'rivalry'
Speaking in a new interview with Heat magazine, Pernice described the competitive relationships between the professional dancers on the show and rejected the idea of a "Strictly family."
He said: "I don't find that the 'Strictly family' exists because we're all there for the same reason - it's a competition and everybody wants to win."
"The other pros all want to be successful. We all want to be the best and we all want to win the Glitterball. When somebody becomes more successful than someone else, it's normal that they get on their nerves, it's a rivalry."
He added: "You will have good moments and bad moments, even though they like to say it's a family, that's not true."
Pernice also revealed he remains in touch with Strictly judges Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke, Motsi Mabuse and Craig Revel Horwood, saying their "loyalty means a lot" to him. The judging panel scores the celebrity couples each week as they compete for the Glitterball Trophy.
Amanda Abbington's response
Abbington, an actress known for roles including Mr Selfridge and Sherlock, issued a swift rebuttal after Pernice's memoir was released last month.
While Pernice insisted he believed his relationship with Abbington had been a good one built on friendly banter, the actress has said his treatment led to her being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Responding to the book, Abbington said: "He is grossly mischaracterising what happened to suit his own narrative but I have no interest in engaging with that. My focus is on moving forward... He took part in the BBC investigation that made findings against him, following which the channel paid me compensation."
Abbington took particular issue with Pernice's claim in the book that she had made a Nazi salute during rehearsals. He wrote that while he could have complained to Strictly bosses at the time, he chose not to, saying: "If somebody calls me rude names and makes rude gestures, including a Nazi salute (which Amanda did), it means our banter is at that level."
Pernice also presented investigators with a 28-minute audio recording of a conversation with Abbington in which she told him she knew she was a "nightmare" and said she would "throw me out of the window" if she were him.
BBC investigation and settlement
The release of Pernice's memoir comes after Abbington received a five-figure out-of-court settlement from BBC Studios, along with a contribution towards her legal fees. The settlement has reportedly been made to prevent a lengthy court battle and to allow Abbington, who was later diagnosed with PTSD, to move on from the dispute.
Following its investigation, the BBC cleared Pernice of the most serious accusations made against him but issued a formal apology to Abbington.
The resulting report found that some of the language Pernice used towards Abbington could be "belittling," and agreed with the actress that his feedback was at times "overly negative" and that he had used profanity during rehearsals.
After reviewing several hours of rehearsal footage, investigators also identified two moments of "inappropriate behaviour of sexual banter in the workplace" between the pair, though these were found to have been "made and received as jokes."
