The sister of Giovanni Pernice has come to his defence as the under-fire Strictly star faces a probe by the BBC into allegations of ‘serious misconduct’.
The Italian has faced claims from three of his former dance partners on the show that he bullied and mistreated them, although he strenuously denies any wrongdoing, writing on social media: ‘I reject any suggestion of abusive or threatening behaviour and I look forward to clearing my name.’
Among those making the allegations is Amanda Abbington, who dramatically quit Strictly early in 2023 citing ‘personal reasons’ and is reportedly demanding access to CCTV footage of their training sessions together as part of her claim.
Previous partners have also spoken out in the past about his methods – Laura Whitmore claimed she ‘cried every day’ while training with him and Ranvir Singh said she had a ‘total meltdown’ during rehearsals with him.Â
The BBC has launched an investigation into the claims against the Sicily-born dancer, who sources say is a ‘perfectionist’ and can be ‘incredibly full-on’.
The sister of Giovanni Pernice has come to the defence of the embattled Strictly star. Pictured: Giovanni with his mother, father and sister
It comes after allegations of ‘serious misconduct’ about the Italian dancing star from three of his previous partners on the show. Pictured: Giovanni dances with Amanda Abbington on Strictly in October 2023
The ballroom star has strenuously denied any wrongdoing after the BBC launched a probe into the allegations. Pictured: Giovanni dances with Amanda Abbington on Strictly in September 2023
Previous dance partners have spoken about their difficult experiences with the dancer, including Love Island host Laura Whitmore. Pictured: Giovanni dancing with Laura Whitmore in 2016
Now his sister Angela has come to his defence, insisting her brother will ‘always have our support’ and that his entire family is ‘100 per cent behind him and nothing with change that’.
Speaking from Palermo, where he is originally from, his sister Angela told MailOnline: ‘Giovanni will always have our support, he is family and there’s nothing else to say.
‘The whole family is behind him, mum, dad, me and everyone else, whatever he says is the truth and we support him with all our strength.
‘We are 100 per cent behind him and nothing will change that.’
Despite living half way across Europe from the rest of his family and leaving home at the age of just 14 to pursue his dreams of becoming a dancer, Giovanni has remained incredibly close with them.
The ballroom star, who left Strictly less than a month ago, watched with pride as Angela walked down the aisle for her wedding in Sicily last June and hugged her on the dancefloor at the reception afterwards.
She touchingly wrote afterwards of Giovanni: ‘That pain in the a**e has become a man – a wonderful man. I love you my little brother. You are my life.’
Last month the whole family flew over from Italy to watch Giovanni in his Let Me Entertain You show and posed outside the sold out London Palladium – a show of support for their ‘golden boy’ as he faced claims he mistreated dance partners.
His parents have only spoken once publicly about his troubles – but have said the dancer ‘was just doing his job’ following his partner Amanda Abbington’s shock departure from Strictly.
Piero said: ‘We are surprised by the fact she left the show, because everything was going ok – we thought they could have won.’
He added: ‘My son is a really nice, polite and respectful boy. He always had good results with different partners and he has never had problems with them.
Gio hugs his sister and parents on Angela’s wedding day in Italy last year. Angela says her brother has been a pain – but is her ‘world’
Giovanni, pictured in around 2012, came to the UK in 2015 barely speaking English and needed an earpiece with a translator to help him through his first shows because of the language barrier
Giovanni dancing in Italy before he moved to the UK for Strictly
He has found love and support from new girlfriend Molly Brown (pictured together)
Giovanni’s mum Rosalda explained: ‘They have to train tough hours to get some results. Giovanni has just done what he had to do. He was just doing his job.’
A family friend said their view is that Gio has high standards and told MailOnline: ‘They are the typical Italian family and stick together through thick and thin, they are his biggest fans and they will not have a bad word said about him.
‘They watched his show when he won and were in tears and they are often over in London visiting or Giovanni gets back to Palermo as often as he can.’
Giovanni has found love and support from his new girlfriend Molly Brown. They were pictured together on holiday in Madeira this month.
‘The plan is for his girlfriend Molly to come over [to Sicily] soon’, the family friend said.
After receiving the call from the BBC in 2015 asking him to join Strictly Come Dancing, he had arrived in London from Italy with barely a word of English and very few pounds in his pocket.
Giovanni needed an earpiece throughout his first series of Strictly so an Italian speaker could translate for him.
But it didn’t hold him back and he managed to get to the final with partner Georgia May Foote, losing out to Jay McGuiness and Aliona Vilani who won the competition.
Three more finals have followed including a famous win with Rose Ayling-Ellis, whose success as a disabled dancer reduced millions of viewers to tears.
But behind the scenes at the show, apparently not all was well and he is leaving under a cloud amid claims of bullying and mistreatment of some partners on the show.
A BBC source told MailOnline: ‘Giovanni is not the same person who arrived in the UK in 2015. As the show has gone on, and he has become more successful, speaking frankly, he is not as nice as he was’.
Even Strictly winner Rose Ayling-Ellis, who once flew to Sicily with her dance partner to meet his family, has declined to defend him.
Strictly star Giovanni Pernice’s former partner Rose Ayling-Ellis reportedly admits she is not surprised what others are saying amid BBC probe into ‘abusive behaviour’ by Giovanni
Giovanni Pernice’s mum and dad have said the dancer ‘was just doing his job’ following partner Amanda Abbington’s shock departure from Strictly Come Dancing (pictured with his parents outside Buckingham Palace)
In recent weeks, the professional dancer, 33, has come under fire for his ‘militant’ training style, with the BBC forced to investigate ‘serious workplace misconduct claims’Â
Amanda Abbington (pictured), Laura Whitmore and Ranvir Singh have also been critical in their review of him
Strictly Come Dancing pro Giovanni Pernice’s former celebrity partners have complained they felt ‘uncomfortable’ with him and even feuded with the dancer (pictured with Laura Whitmore)
It has now been reported that Amanda, 51, has demanded bosses hand over footage of her rehearsals with Giovanni after they clashed while working together (pictured)
Speculation:Â In her exit statement, Amanda thanked her team, but fuelled rumours of feud with Giovanni by failing to mention the dancerÂ
‘Gio doesn’t appear to have many friends. It is perhaps telling that his best friend is Anton. But he is exceptionally close to his family. They are huge support to him. He is the golden boy of the family, always has been and always will be’, the source said.
Former celebrity partners complained they felt ‘uncomfortable’ with him and even feuded with the dancer as it is reported his last partner Amanda Abbington has ‘demanded footage of their rehearsals’.
The professional dancer, 33, withdrew from the competition last year after his partner Amanda Abbington decided to leave for ‘personal reasons’ and caused a stir when she kept the dancer out of her exit statement.
At the time, some suggested she found Giovanni’s ‘militant’ style of training hard to deal with and her time on the show was said to have been ‘plagued by difficulties’.
It was reported that Amanda, 51, has demanded bosses hand over footage of her rehearsals with Giovanni after they clashed while working together as she apparently hopes it will ‘back up’ her claims against the singer.
Amanda is said to want to review the recordings of their time together as she seeks legal advice over his alleged behaviour towards her.
Sources close to the star have also claimed Amanda has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in the wake of her departure from the series.
An on-set source told The Sun: ‘The BBC have received a request for the footage they hold of Amanda and Giovanni. It is known as a data subject access request.
‘There is a feeling that the recordings will lift the lid on what really goes on behind the scenes on Strictly. Things in rehearsals can become very tense.
‘Giovanni is a perfectionist and he can be incredibly full-on.’
A friend of Amanda told the publication it has taken her months to recover from her Strictly experience.
‘Amanda has been left broken and saddened by the whole experience. She has needed therapy and was left in shock by the behaviour she was exposed to,’ they said.
They added: ‘Everyone else was having a fabulous time, but she was really stressed by having to spend eight hours a day with Giovanni. She spent a lot of time crying and couldn’t sleep or eat properly.’
The pal said Amanda found the negative response she got on social media for not mentioning Giovanni in her exit statement difficult.
Ranvir admitted that she had a ‘total meltdown’ during rehearsals with professional partner Giovanni (pictured together in 2020)
Meanwhile his 2022 partner Richie Anderson has unfollowed him on Instagram
But they insisted her family and friends had been there to support her.
However it isn’t the first time Giovanni’s celebrity partners have had issues with his intense training style.
In 2016, former Love Island host Laura Whitmore said she ‘cried every day’ and felt ‘uncomfortable’ while training with him.
She later wrote for HuffPost UK in 2018: ‘I’m still not ready to talk in depth about my experience on the show.
‘I was placed with a dance partner I was extremely uncomfortable with and in the end I felt broken, I cried every day. And I really was broken, both mentally and physically, by the end.’
Giovanni was also said to have fallen out with Good Morning Britain star Ranvir Singh in 2020.
Ranvir admitted that she had a ‘total meltdown’ during rehearsals with professional partner Giovanni.
The broadcaster told co-star Kate Garraway that she and the dancer had a ’20 minute divorce’ as things became tense in the training room.
Discussing the gruelling rehearsals with Kate, Ranvir admitted she had to walk out and take some time for herself after the dancer ‘put me in my place’.
It was also reported as recently as last year that he ‘feuded’ with Richie Anderson in 2022, who was his celeb partner the year before Amanda.
It was said at the time that the pair ‘hadn’t clicked’ since being coupled together and tensions were rising off camera.
Sources told The Sun during the time of filming that Giovanni was becoming frustrated with Richie not listening to him in rehearsals.
However, Richie later hit back at the reports and insisted there was ‘no problem’ between them during a joint appearance on spin-off show It Takes Two.