Giovanni Pernice‘s British TV return was today confirmed after he launched a new UK theatre tour with a current Strictly star – but his friends say he remains ‘tormented’ by Amanda Abbington’s campaign against him.
The Sicilian dancer, 34, who is currently storming Ballando Con Le Stelle – the Italian version of Strictly – will appear on Celebrity Hunted in early 2025.
The series was filmed before the Strictly scandal broke and Channel 4 executives considered cutting his scenes from the show.
But instead they have decided to reschedule the show for January 2025 after Giovanni was cleared of 11 out of 17 of Amanda‘s complaints against him following a six-month BBC investigation.
Gio has also revealed in the past week that he and best friend Anton Du Beke will go on their ‘together again’ theatre tour, in a tacit show of support for him by the current Strictly judge.
He also has his solo Last Dance tour of the UK booked in for next year and also Ballando on Tour – more than 20 dates up and down the country from Ipswich to Inverness for the public outside of London to attend dance classes with him.
But friends of the Sicilian dance star say that they their fear that Ms Abbington will ‘simply never stop slinging mud at him’.
Ex-Strictly Come Dancing star Giovanni Pernice is returning to UK television as well as a new tour and other dance classes but a friend fears that Amanda Abbington’s campaign against him won’t stop
Anton and Gio are going on their ‘together again’ tour next year
Giovanni will also be returning to Britain for Ballando on Tour – dance classes across the UK
The BBC cleared the Sicilian of ten out of 16 allegations when its probe concluded in September.
Six of the claims were upheld, some included bullying and harassment, which prompted an apology from BBC bosses.
But within 24 hours of the BBC’s report being published, the actress had given interviews in which she brought up claims Pernice had been cleared of.
One source close to Pernice told the Daily Mail’s Katie Hind: ‘Just when he thought it was over he could move on, Amanda decided to go out and spout more horrible things of a sexual nature about Gio.
‘He just can’t see why any of this is fair. It’s like he is being tormented’, the friend said.
The professional dancer, 34, left the BBC show after his former celebrity partner complained about his behaviour and has since joined the cast of the Italian version of the show Ballando Con Le Stelle.
Amanda appeared on Newsnight after the report came out and she said that her former Strictly partner Giovanni called her names.
She said her time on the BBC show was an ‘ongoing litany of being verbally abused’ by the Italian star.
But it later emerged that Ms Abbington called Pernice a string of swear words – and was even deemed to have been the one to start the coarse language by the BBC probe.
The Sherlock actress, 52, was also ruled to have been the only one of the pair to have used the ‘c-word’ in the hours of rehearsal footage seen by investigators in the inquiry.
The professional dancer, 34, left the BBC show after his former celebrity partner Amanda Abbington complained about his behaviour and has since joined the cast of the Italian version of the show Ballando Con Le Stelle
Corporation sources can reveal that, during their written exchanges on WhatsApp, Ms Abbington referred to the Sicilian dancer as a ‘k***head,’ a ‘d***face’ and a ‘t**t’ – despite her complaining that he was abusive to her.
The six-month long investigation, which cost the licence fee payer upwards of £250,000, also found that on another occasion he said: ‘I’m tired of it, if you want to look s*** I don’t care.’
Giovanni has since joined the cast of the Italian version of the show Ballando Con Le Stelle.
His family have revealed that British fans have been watching the show and their votes have helped him win public votes.
Last week he announced his new 2025 dancing tour Together Again with his close pal Anton Du Beke and shared the exciting news with his delighted fans.
Giovanni said in his post: ‘BREAKING NEWS! If you were wondering now is confirmed !!the double act is back on the road!
‘Me and my best friend @mrantondubeke are back on tour next summer ! www.antonandgiovanni.com See you all there ♥️♥️♥️.’
While Anton said in his post: ‘Exciting news my loves! I’m so happy to announce the double act is going back out on the road! @giovannipernice and I are going on tour again next summer.
‘Tickets go on sale on Friday at 10am – www.antonandgiovanni.com. See you all there! ❤️ Lots of love – Anton XX ✨.’
It comes after Anton showed his support for Giovanni, after he shared ‘relief’ that he was cleared of the ‘majority’ of allegations made against him by Amanda.
And today it emerged he has joined BBC rivals Channel Four for their new series Celebrity Hunted, according to The Sun.
The show was filmed back in 2022, but bosses shelved it after Sherlock star Amanda accused him of bullying.
At first the show execs considered just cutting his scenes from the series but decided on rescheduling the show for January 2025.
A TV source told The Sun: ‘It was absolutely right to shelve Hunted while the BBC took the time to unravel the claims against Giovanni.
‘It was filmed in 2022 and due to screen last year, but will now air in early 2025.’