STRICTLY Come Dancing star Giovanni Pernice flashed a thumbs-up to fans as he stepped out in London amid former show partner Amanda Abbington’s bombshell claims.
The Italian professional, 33, who quit the BBC show earlier this year, greeted fans outside his weekly dance class in Fulham, in the south-west of the capital.
Giovanni arrived at the venue sporting a crisp white top and matching blue joggers.
He finished off with a dark rucksack slung over his shoulders and a pair of sunglasses.
The BBC star fist-bumped one fan before giving a thumbs up to another, then entered the huge wooden doors.
He is continuing with normal life despite being under investigation by the BBC over misconduct after complaints were filed by several of his former celebrity dance partners – claims he strongly denies.
This includes his 2023 show partner Amanda, who this week told the Lorraine show she believed he “hated” her.
She also insisted she flagged concerns about his alleged attitude three days in to the series in one of a series of bombshell claims.
During a hard-hitting Channel 4 interview on Wednesday night with former co-star and news anchor Krishnan-Guru Murthy, she broke down in tears over the alleged behaviour which she says caused her to suffer PTSD.
During the telly discussion, she also told how some of her alleged abuse was “sexual” in nature.
Krishnan 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.”
Talking about the nature of the ‘abuse’, she added: “It was unnecessary and when stuff was getting thrown at me I’d shut down because I’ve been in abusive situations before in the past so I recognised the red flags, so I’d shut down and wouldn’t be able to do it because I felt attacked, not literally attacked.”
Hitting back at trolls who, she says, branded her a “snowflake” and sent her and her family death threats, Amanda then insisted: “I go into anything wanting to work hard. I have a strong work ethic, the fact that people think I’m lazy and ‘she didn’t know what she was letting herself in for’.
“Yes, I did, of course I did, I know what I was letting myself in, but I didn’t know I was letting myself in for that.”
This weekend, The Sun exclusively reported how new details of a Strictly recording had been revealed.
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.”
The audio documented six and a half minutes of tense exchange during which Amanda told him “you probably want to throw me out of a window.”
Giovanni’s people have since 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 same investigation has also seen fellow Italian professional Graziano Di Prima axed after allegations of “physical incidents” towards show partner Zara McDermott, 27.
