NEW details have emerged of a secret recording Strictly Come Dancing pro Giovanni Pernice made of Amanda Abbington revealing six-and-a-half minutes of a tense exchange.
The audio is believed to have been made in the final weeks for the pair’s tense dance for the show rehearsals.
In it, Amanda says: “I know I’m a nightmare” and “You probably feel like throwing me out of a window.”
Italian dancer Giovanni‘s people touted the recording as “bombshell evidence” that will clear his name.
But the Sun can reveal that a source close to Amanda said: “This tape has been billed as bombshell evidence, however it’s the type of everyday discussions that go on between partners and pros that go on in rehearsals, which can, obviously, be very fraught.
“The idea that this is some kind of ‘smoking gun’ that will exonerate Giovanni from his alleged behaviour is absurd.
“The transcript is just dialogue between the pair, Amanda is being self-deprecating and was clearly trying to cope in a difficult situation, she had no idea Giovanni was secretly recording her.“
Pernice, 33, believes this, alongside other messages, where the pair say “love you”, will clear his name.
A decision into the BBC internal investigation is expected at the end of next week.
It comes as Amanda, 50, revealed last week on Channel 4 that some of the alleged bullying towards her was of a sexual nature.
The interview was carried out by Krishnan-Guru Murthy, who appeared as a contestant on the same series as Amanda.
He said that he had heard there was an instance which could be described as behaviour of a sexual nature’, asking: ”Is that right?“
The ex-Sherlock actress replied: ”Yeah, I mean, you know, one of the many things.”
A spokesperson for Amanda said: “These details don’t alter anything: as Amanda has repeatedly made clear, including when asked during an interview last week, she did her best to make things work.
“This included being open with Giovanni about her own shortcomings as a dancer and her awareness that this must have been difficult for him.
“For these comments to now be presented as some form of an excuse for the bullying that Amanda experienced is as unacceptable as the behaviour itself, behaviour that Amanda is not alone in having experienced.”
Giovanni’s spokesman said: “We would urge people to wait for the review’s conclusion and not to pay heed to these very serious and defamatory allegations that have no evidence in support of them.”
Earlier this month Sicilian pro Graziano Di Prima, 30 was sacked for kicking celeb partner Zara McDermott, 27.
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.”
Ex-Paralympian Will Bayley, 36, told The Sun how his time on the show left him with ”injuries that still affect me to this day.”
Last week BBC boss Tim Davie said “sorry” to alleged victims of the Strictly scandal at the launch of the corporation’s annual report.
Mr Davie said the door remained open to any more complaints, but he was confident that changes brought in would safeguard new competitors.
He said: ”I’m sorry that anyone has had an experience on Strictly that hasn’t been wholly positive. That is something we do reflect on and I’m sorry.
“There are clearly learnings regarding oversights in the training rooms that we have needed to address.
“The benefit of hindsight, you always look at these things and think we could have done more, of course you could, but the key here is you address the situation.
“But the measures we’ve taken I believe are an appropriate and fair response to what we know now in terms of making sure in the training rooms we have the right oversight and that people have a positive experience coming through the show.
“I do believe overall that hundreds of people have come through the show and had a positive experience, it’s not right to characterise it that we haven’t had significant duty of care provision.”
