SHIRLEY Ballas posted a defiant message on social media after backing Giovanni Pernice – as Amanda Abbington made more shock claims.
Actress Amanda, 50, was paired up with Giovanni, 33, last year and later revealed she was diagnosed with PTSD as a result of her experience with the Italian dancer.
Last night she sat down for a bombshell interview in which she claimed some of the alleged abuse from Giovanni was “of sexual nature”.
Hours later Strictly head judge Shirley, 63 – who has spoken publicly in support of Gio – took to social media to share a cryptic post.
It read: “Surround yourself with people who fight for you in rooms you aren’t in.”
Shirley added: “Goodnight lovely humans who are in my life you know who you are.”
Speaking after Amanda’s allegations first came to light, Shirley said of Gio: “I’ve known Giovanni for many, many years and he’s an absolutely splendid teacher.
“My only experience of him is that of an absolute gentleman. He serves the show well and he gives 100 percent.”
During Amanda’s interview last night news anchor Krishnan-Guru Murthy said: “I heard, not from you, from somebody else, about an instance of, I suppose you’d call it humiliating behaviour of a sexual nature, is that right?”
An emotional Amanda replied: “Yeah. I mean, you know, one of the many things.”
Amanda admitted that she could not go into the full details about the nature of what she allegedly suffered as it is still under investigation.
But she did claim six other people came forward to say they’d had a similar experience to her.
Amanda said: “If it had just been me coming out saying all this stuff, I can understand why people go, ‘Oh God’, but there were five or six other people previously to me who had the same experience.”
She also reiterated her claims that Giovanni is blocking the release of rehearsal footage, saying there are FIFTY hours recorded.
“There is evidence out there of what happened in that room and I’m not the one who’s blocking it. I’ve said anyone can watch it, but he [Giovanni] doesn’t want anyone to see it,” she insisted.
Strictly Come Dancing's scandal has been growing over the past few months, with several major players speaking out about what went on. Here are the key moments of what's happened so far
16th May: Giovanni Pernice sensationally quits Strictly Come Dancing after nine years on the show.
17th May: Giovanni becomes the centre of an official investigation after three former partners – believed to be Amanda Abbington, Laura Whitmore and Ranvir Singh – make complaints to the BBC.
16th June: Giovanni releases an official statement vowing to clear his name and denies any wrongdoing.
8th July: Strictly confirms Aljaz Skorjanec will return to the series, replacing Giovanni, after initially quitting the show two years ago.
10th July: Amanda Abbington launches fresh legal proceedings to get the rehearsal footage from her time with Giovanni, after allegedly he refused to release the videos.
13th July: Graziano Di Prima is axed from Strictly for “gross misconduct” after footage of his treatment of Zara McDermott is brought to the attention of the BBC.
Graziano quickly broke his silence, apologising for his behaviour in a statement and saying he “deeply regrets it”, adding his “intense passion and determination to win might have affected his training regime.”
15th July: Strictly bosses implement new duty of care protocols, including having a chaperone present throughout all rehearsals.
16th July: Zara McDermott speaks out publicly for first time. She states while the production team were “amazing to work with”, she found the rehearsal room “completely different”, confirming there’s footage of “certain situations”.
19th July: Anton Du Beke is put under the spotlight for his “1970s attitude” and treatment of female celeb stars, particularly after allegedly referring to 2009 partner Laila Rouass as a “p***” after getting a spray tan.
21st July: Paralympian Will Bayley, who has limb condition arthrogryposis, revealed he was encouraged to leap from a table during a dance routine, despite fears. The stunt caused an injury that forced him to withdraw from the show.
22nd July: MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace admits he broke down in tears and got a nasty stress rash on his face during his time on Strictly in 2014.
23rd July: Celebrity agent Melanie Blake claims she was sexually assaulted by an unnamed pro dancer while backstage on the show, and claims she witnessed ageism, rudeness and a rough treatment to the point of injury.
23rd July: BBC boss Tim Davie breaks his silence on the ongoing allegations against Strictly, saying he is ‘deeply sorry’, adding: “Hundreds of people, be they pros, contestants or crew have been part of it and had a brilliant experience.
“At the same time if someone thinks there was something wrong or they want to talk about their experience then of course we want them to raise that with us. Be in no doubt we will take it seriously, listen and deal with it as appropriate.”
