GIOVANNI Pernice is shaking off his ongoing issues with Strictly Come Dancing – literally – by celebrating a string of sold out dance classes.
The Sicilian dancer, who is currently under investigation into his alleged “bullying” tactics in the Strictly rehearsal room, spent his Sunday working at his Ballando dance company hosting classes for fans.
The star later shared pictures of the group, and said: “Four sold out classes, Four hours of dance fun, that’s how to spend a Sunday. Love you all!”
Giovanni has been continuing to run classes at Ballando over the past three months, as well as going on tour with Anton Du Beke.
Despite the ‘cloak of silence’ over the Strictly cast, all four of the judges have either hosted, or are due to host, events alongside Giovanni at Ballando as well.
It seems Giovanni is continuing to put his best foot forward when it comes to work, despite a string of issues including the investigation, and splitting from his girlfriend.
Last week, Amanda Abbington, who spearheaded the complaints effort against him, spoke out publicly for the first time in a bombshell interview.
Amanda and Giovanni were partnered up in the 2023 series of the show, before Amanda bowed out of the series due to ‘personal reasons’.
She later made an official complaint to the BBC about Giovanni’s behaviour towards her, describing the treatment in an interview as ‘disastrously unworkable’.
Speaking to Krishnan Guru-Murthy, who also participated on Strictly last year, for Channel 4 news, Amanda claimed that, while Giovanni would be nice at times, other moments would make him difficult to work with.
“I didn’t do anything wrong in that room. That courtesy wasn’t extended to me, just simple as that,” she said. “And it could have been, so easily.”
“Because there were pockets of moments when that did happen. That he [Giovanni] was nice and he was, you know, positive, and then that quickly ended and it became unworkable again. Disastrously unworkable, horribly unworkable.
“So, I know what I did in that room, and I know I did the best I could do. I know, I worked as hard as I could. I know that I put in 100% commitment to that.”
She also claimed five or six of his former partners had gone through the same experience.
Since the interview aired, Laura Whitmore, who was partnered with Giovanni in 2016, has come forward to air her own complaints about the show.
In an Instagram post, the presenter made it clear she had not made an official complaint herself, but was helping in the investigation after being asked.
She added that she felt her experience was “specific to her” until Amanda spoke out.
Her statement read in part: “The aim of this is to show a pattern of behaviour I believe needs to stop. My evidence is to support other people’s experience. It’s a shame it takes this for someone to be heard.
I am not looking for anything, just an acceptance that what happened to me in the rehearsal rooms during my time on Strictly was wrong and that it won’t happen to anyone else again.”
“Victim blaming must stop or we’ll never get better,” she added. Giovanni quit the BBC show earlier this year, shortly before Amanda’s complaint went public, but adamantly denies any wrongdoing and has vowed to clear his name.
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.”
