Routine training methods…or a step too far? Newly unearthed footage reveals harsh and controversial coaching techniques used on celebs by Strictly’s professional dancers as BBC show is engulfed in abuse scandal

New footage of the ‘very strict’, funny, harsh and at times controversial training methods of Strictly’s professional dancers can be revealed today.

MailOnline has unearthed videos of past-and-present stars of the BBC show coaching their celebrities as the corporation says it will bring in chaperones for the next series to protect famous students.

Behind the scenes films of dancers including Giovanni Pernice, Anton du Beke, Neil Jones, Nancy Xu getting tough or ribbing their partners are being shared on social media and YouTube in the wake of the scandal engulfing the show.

Mr Jones, one of the show’s top choreographer who was married to Katya Jones and later became a celebrity dancer, was filmed telling EastEnders actress Nina Wadia with a straight face: ‘This is hard work for me to watch you do this over and over again’.

And star dancer Nancy Xu was shown using resistance bands to help stretch partner Rhys Stephenson‘s arms into a good hold. She encourages him to hold the pose for as long as possible but he appeared to be in pain.

There is also GMTV footage of Anton Du Beke and Kate Garraway, laden with innuendo – before he throws her into a backwards hold, making her squeal and then laugh.

James Jordan and Alex Jones on the show in 2011, where James talked about his nicknames for her

The moment when Neil Jones, one of the show’s top choreographers whp later became a celebrity dancer, was filmed telling EastEnders actress Nina Wadia: ‘This is hard work for me to watch you do this over and over again’.

Nina pulled a face at Mr Jones after his comments

Nancy Xu was shown using resistance bands to help stretch partner Rhys Stephenson ‘s arms into a good hold. He grimmaced

Michelle Visage said Giovanni Pernice was ‘very strict’ but said that this was what she wanted

There is also unearthed footage of James Jordan in training – 24 hours after the Mail found a film of him telling his partner Georgina Bouzova he would ‘drag her across the floor and scream at her’ if she forgot her moves.

In the new film Mr Jordan is filmed ribbing Alex Jones about her dancing in their first rehearsals for the 2011 series – a year before he left. Alex revealed that he called her ‘Bambi on stilts’, ‘Thunderbird’ and a ‘Kangaroo’ because of some of her moves. At the end of the clip she says: ‘Hopefully I will become Darcey Bussell‘. James then gives a deadpan look down the camera and says: ‘I hope so too’.

One Strictly source told MailOnline that James and Alex had a very good relationship throughout and both enjoyed ‘taking the p***’ in training.

Mr Jordan himself said last night that he has ‘never received any complaints’ from any of the celebrity dancers he worked with on the show.

He also slammed the BBC, saying the clip began doing the rounds again following the recent Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima scandals – saying most of the footage ‘was not related to Georgina at all’ and ‘no comparison can be drawn’ between him and the two Italian dancers who have left under a cloud.

In the new set of training videos found by MailOnline, Sicilian Mr Pernice is shown with pupil Michelle Visage. The RuPaul‘s Drag Race star says after their first lesson that Giovanni is ‘very strict’.

But she added that is what she wanted and needed. At the end she asks how she is doing, to which Giovanni says: ‘Okay’ – nothing more.

Choreographer and dancer Neil Jones was filmed telling Nina Wadia: ‘This is hard work for me to watch you do this over and over again’.

She then pulled a face to lighten the mood but he continued to look serious in the clip.

After they left the show in 2021 they joined Rylan on the It Takes Two sofa where she told the pro dancer she ‘never’ wanted to dance with him again. He then joked he ‘couldn’t wait to get rid’ of her.

In the same series a YouTube video called ‘Unseen footage from the training room’, Nancy Xu and Rhys Stephenson were seen working hard.

At one point he was doing some intense stretching and appeared to be in pain. Nancy was behind him telling him to visualise being on a beach to get through it before declaring ‘nice’ as she inspected his shoulder position.

Kate Garraway appeared in the fifth series of Strictly Come Dancing, partnered with professional dancer Anton du Beke – who is now a close friend. They finished 8th of the 14 couples.

After their first training session they appeared together on GMTV, where Anton made a series of Carry On-style jokes and uttered some sexual innuendos.

Kate then squealed and laughed when he shocked her by throwing her backwards into a hold over his knee.

MailOnline has asked the stars to comment. 

Former Strictly Come Dancing professional James Jordan has furiously hit back after unearthed footage emerged of him telling his partner he would ‘drag her across the floor and scream at her’ if she forgot her moves 

The ballroom dancer and choreographer, 46, has slammed the BBC after the clip began doing the rounds again following the recent Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima scandals – saying most of the footage ‘was not related to Georgina at all’

But he has now responded to the clip on his Instagram as he shared a raging statement saying that the footage was ‘edited for entertainment’

Last night James Jordan furiously hit back after unearthed footage emerged of him telling his partner Georgina Bouzova he would ‘drag her across the floor and scream at her’ if she forgot her moves.

The ballroom dancer and choreographer, 46, has slammed the BBC after the clip began doing the rounds again following the recent Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima scandals – saying most of the footage ‘was not related to Georgina at all’.

The clip, which was filmed during the fourth series back in 2006, shows him rehearsing with actress Georgina.

He also says to her ‘kill you’ as he demands she stands on one leg and insists that unless she has physically broken a rib he doesn’t care what pain she is in. He is also seen throwing a chair across the training studio.

But he has now responded to the clip on his Instagram as he shared a raging statement saying that the footage was ‘edited for entertainment’ and was ‘highly produced and exaggerated’.

He said there ‘is no comparison to be drawn between those awful allegations and the VT’ – while insisting none of his celebrity partners ever complained about him during his eight years on the show.

It comes as Graziano, 30, was axed from the show last week over reports he verbally and physically abused his celebrity partner Zara McDermott, 27, during last year’s series.

It came just weeks after Giovanni Pernice, 33, was suspended while a BBC probe is conducted over claims of off-camera misconduct made by Amanda Abbington, 50, and two other former celeb partners. 

James penned in the caption to his post as he shared a snap dancing with Georgina: ‘For those of you who have seen the edited BBC VT of me training with Georgina 18 years ago – yes I had hair once!!

‘But I just wanted to reassure you that footage was shot and edited together by the BBC team for transmission on It Takes Two 18 years ago in specific ways for the purposes of ENTERTAINMENT. 

‘Many of the clips were not related to Georgina at all (they are not allowed to do that these days as it misrepresents what actually happened) but were included for the purpose of exaggeration. 

‘The BBC thought it would be fun to put this VT together in the way they did. You can see Georgina laughing about it in the studio and in the clips… And I have never received ANY complaints from any of my celebrity dance partners in the 8 years I was on the show. 

‘Obviously if I had genuinely upset anyone, that footage would NEVER have been allowed to be used in that way by the BBC themselves. The Producers loved to paint me as the bad guy and I played along…always a perfectionist …but I would never have deliberately upset anyone and pride myself on good friendships with my celebrity dance partners. 

The clip, which was filmed during the fourth series back in 2006, shows him rehearsing with actress Georgina 

In the clip he also says to her ‘kill you’ as he demands she stands on one leg and insists that unless she has physically broken a rib he doesn’t care what pain she is in

It comes after after Graziano Di Prima was sacked for hitting and kicking his partner Zara McDermott (pictured together in October 2023) 

‘I strongly suggest that nobody attempts to link this edited BBC VT with the current alleged reports of abusive behaviour taking place behind the scenes by other Strictly professionals. 

‘There is no comparison to be drawn between those awful allegations and the highly produced and exaggerated VT from the BBC archives that is featuring on social media. To be clear, I deplore bullying or abusiveness in the workplace.’

Jordan, who left Strictly in 2012 after appearing on eight series, also banned Ms Bouzova, who formerly starred on BBC medical drama Casualty, from eating sweets and chocolate and would only allow her to buy pineapple and ham when they visited a supermarket together.

The video, which emerged just days after Graziano was sacked for allegedly hitting and kicking his partner Zara, was shown on Strictly spin-off It Takes Two at the time with its then host Claudia Winkleman introducing it to viewers.

Half way through the clip the show returned to the presenter who made light of the behaviour by describing Jordan, husband of another former Strictly pro Ola Jordan, as ‘an extraordinary human being.’

The video, which is being shared across social media platform TikTok opens with Jordan telling Ms Bouzova that he was a ‘force to be reckoned with’ before ordering her to ‘move that f***ing foot.’

Explaining why he is working the star so hard, he then says: ‘Unless she’s actually physically broken a rib, I don’t care…kill you, stand on your left leg. Unless her feet are bleeding, I don’t care. If they’re sore, dance through it.’

Appearing to be surprised by 46-year-old Jordan’s outbursts, Ms Bouzova then asked: ‘I forget, what will you do?’

He replies: ‘I drag you across the floor and then scream at you when get up..’

Later in the clip Jordan tells Ms Bouzova that she should lose weight. She told the camera: ‘Basically, he thinks I’m a bit of a porker,’ to which he replied: ‘I said you no chocolate, no crisps. Every time I see you, you’re eating chocolate.’

She then asked if she looks fat to which he said no but when she asked: ‘Do I look like I could do with losing a bit of…’ he replies: ‘Yes.’

On Monday Jordan weighed into the Di Prima scandal, writing on X: ‘Just seen another pro dancer is not coming to Strictly – again for apparent abusive behaviour. What is going on?’

The video emerging comes after claims by The Sun newspaper that there is a third former professional dancer whose name has been given to Carter-Ruck, the law firm representing Amanda Abbington. There is no suggestion the dancer is Jordan.

Former Strictly Come Dancing professional James Jordan  left Strictly in 2012 after appearing on eight series

In the clip Mr Jordan also banned Ms Bouzova, who formerly starred on BBC medical drama Casualty, from eating sweets and chocolate and would only allow her to buy pineapple and ham when they visited a supermarket together

Graziano’s sacking came just weeks after Giovanni Pernice, 33, was suspended while a BBC probe is conducted over claims of off-camera misconduct made by Amanda Abbington, 50 

Addressing his exit from the show, a ‘devastated’ Di Prima wrote on Instagram over the weekend: ‘I deeply regret the events that led to my departure from Strictly. My intense passion and determination to win might have affected my training regime’

Little more is known about the person’s identity, and the BBC are said to be unaware of who or what they are accused of. 

Strictly sources say that they suspect that the story is being ‘whipped up’ by former Sherlock star Ms Abbington who is awaiting the outcome of an internal investigation by the BBC after accusing her partner Giovanni Pernice of bullying her during rehearsals.

Meanwhile, there have been accusations levelled at the BBC by Strictly staff for not reporting the scandal accurately on its own airwaves.

On Tuesday evening, the Radio 4 news programme said that Di Prima had denied hitting or kicking Ms McDermott and on Wednesday morning, the Today programme used the term ‘tough training methods’ to describe his behaviour towards the former Love Island contestant.