STRICTLY’S Amanda Abbington revealed her “bullying” ordeal after being partnered with Giovanni Pernice.
The actress, 52, told pals at the time she felt he was “abrasive” during rehearsals.
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The BBC is investigating Gio, 33 — seen yesterday for the first time since it emerged he had left Strictly.
He said: “I reject any suggestion of abusive or threatening behaviour.”
A source said: “Amanda had a terrible experience.”
She quit the hit show in October.
This week she is due to meet BBC investigators to discuss possible workplace misconduct.
Gio will also speak to the probe.
Yesterday he was spotted on holiday in Madeira, the first sighting since The Sun revealed on Friday he has left Strictly after eight series.
Giovanni said in a statement to The Sun on Sunday: “I am totally surprised and disappointed to learn of these allegations. I reject any suggestion of abusive or threatening behaviour, and I look forward to clearing my name.
“Those who have followed my journey on Strictly Come Dancing over the last decade will know that I am passionate and competitive. No one is more ambitious for my dance partners than me.
“I have always strived to help them be the very best dancers they can be. This has always come from a place of love and wanting to win – for me and my dance partners.”
But a set source told The Sun on Sunday: “Giovanni had a tough training method.
“Amanda would be bruised.”
The source added: “Amanda had a terrible experience with Gio.
“She felt his behaviour was bullying and abrasive. She would be in tears as communication between them broke down. She tried every avenue to try and make it work.
“There would be crisis talks every Friday after producers watched back the video footage of their rehearsals but it would always end up toxic again by the end of the following week.
“Runners would check in on the training weekly and she would regularly be seen crying and feeling very sad and despondent.
“She desperately wanted it to work but invariably it would break down. An urgent medical condition eventually allowed her to quit.”
Sherlock star Amanda reported alleged misbehaviour around the time she left in October, and Gio, 33, was spoken to by a duty-of-care counsellor.
The actress later asked to see video of rehearsals.
A source said the BBC responded to Amanda’s request for footage and transcripts in January.
An executive explained they did not keep transcripts, and the footage would need to be reviewed and may not be disclosed as it could infringe the data protection rights of others.
But Amanda was offered access to daily production logs.
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Yesterday The Sun told how at least three former dance partners had raised complaints to London-based legal firm Carter-Ruck, which in turn wrote to the BBC.
One is TV’s Laura Whitmore, Gio’s partner in 2016.
She will talk to the BBC investigation in person in the next few weeks.
Persephone Bridgman Baker, at Carter-Ruck, said: “There have been numerous serious complaints made to the BBC who are now in the process of evidence gathering.”
The Sun on Sunday told earlier this year how Amanda endured death threats over her show exit.
She said at the time: “I just want to thank everyone who has been so kind and lovely and supportive this week. It means a great, great deal.
“I was diagnosed with mild PTSD after Strictly for several reasons and I told a few people about that, in the utmost confidence, among other things that were happening in my life at the time, both professionally and personally.
“I’m very sorry that people felt the need to send me death threats, threaten my children and bring up my past, healthy relationship with an ex-partner as an indicator of my current mental health. I wish those people well.”
There have been numerous serious complaints made to the BBC who are now in the process of evidence gathering
Persephone Bridgman Baker
Amanda — who has two children with actor ex Martin Freeman — was also supported by Strictly dancers who contacted her directly.
Gio has become a fan favourite since joining the show in 2015.
He reached the final in his first year with Corrie actress Georgia May Foote, and triumphed in 2021 with EastEnders star Rose Ayling-Ellis.
He recently defended his training methods, and said Amanda could have been a finalist.
I was placed with a dance partner I was extremely uncomfortable with and in the end I felt broken, I cried every day
Laura Whitmore
He told a podcast: “I am a perfectionist, 100 per cent, but it comes from a perspective of caring. I think all the professional dancers are in the same place.
“It’s a shame because, in my opinion, she (Amanda) could have gone all the way.”
Other show partners had tricky times with Gio.
Ex-Steps singer Faye Tozer, 48, is understood to have clashed with him in 2018.
TV and radio star Richie Anderson, a partner in 2022, unfollowed Gio on Instagram.
Love Island host Laura, 39, said previously: “I was placed with a dance partner I was extremely uncomfortable with. I felt broken, I cried every day.”
The BBC declined to comment.
Out but scandal not over
BY Leo McKinstry
STRICTLY star Giovanni Pernice has long been one of the golden boys of the BBC.
Ever since he first graced our screens in 2015, he has been a firm favourite with the show’s fans and the corporation’s management.
With his Latin looks, dazzling moves and charisma, the Sicilian stallion made the ratings soar and viewers swoon.
But now, engulfed by serious complaints about his behaviour towards celebrity partners in the show, he has gone from golden boy to Tin Man.
He denies the claims, saying his methods stem from being a “100 per cent perfectionist”.
Despite this, Gio sensationally quit the show on Friday.
But his departure may not be enough to stop an explosive controversy if it becomes clear that the broadcaster was well aware of the concerns but disregarded them, despite having a duty of care to contestants.
The BBC has now launched an investigation.
But having stood by Gio for so long and apparently even having offered him a new contract, this move smacks of desperate, face-saving cynicism.
For all the corporation’s posturing about equality and zero tolerance of bullying, was the impulse in this saga to protect the BBC’s name rather than oppressed women?
If so, it may prove to be a flawed strategy that could now result in the biggest scandal in the show’s 20-year history.
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