Giovanni Pernice reveals final message to Amanda Abbington before Strictly drama
Giovanni Pernice has shared what he claims was the final communication between himself and Amanda Abbington before she dramatically quit Strictly Come Dancing
Giovanni Pernice has revealed the final conversation between himself and Amanda Abbington.
During their time on Strictly Come Dancing, actress Amanda and professional dancer Giovanni appeared to have the perfect friendship. But this facade crumbled during week six of the BBC dance programme when Amanda made the decision to quit. The Sherlock star has recently stated she made the decision to walk away after discovering lumps in her breast.
Amanda explained that she was “relieved” she had found a way to walk away from Strictly after allegedly clashing with Giovanni. Now, the Italian star, 34, has shared what he claims is the final conversation he had with Amanda before she lodged a complaint to the BBC about his alleged behaviour.
She claimed that she had been diagnosed with PTSD after being “bullied” by the star. The long-awaited BBC report from the investigation cleared the former dancer of the show of violence but issued an apology to Amanda after upholding a series of her bullying claims.
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Speaking in a new interview, Giovanni said he was “gutted” when he received a call from BBC staff informing him that Amanda had quit. Prior to the call, Amanda had opened up to Giovanni during rehearsals, explaining that she had found two lumps in her breasts, just months after being given the all clear from a mammogram.
“Amanda told me that she couldn’t concentrate because while she was having a shower she had found two lumps,” he told the Daily Mail. He went on to add that he said to Amanda he was hoping it was “nothing serious” and even offered to get his own doctor involved to have a scan “right away.”
“So the last message between us was me saying to her: ‘Can I help you? Please let me help you, forget about the dance, forget about the show, this is more important than anything,'” he told the outlet. Giovanni added: “This was the last time I heard from Amanda.”After an investigation by the BBC, six of the 17 allegations made by Amanda were upheld and Giovanni was pleased that the most serious claims were dismissed. Speaking to MailOnline, a source close to the Italian dancer said: “It has been awful for Giovanni. He has had to read stories about himself that weren’t true for more than six months and then, the verdict of the inquiry showed that he hadn’t done all of the things that Amanda or her friends had been telling the media.”
He has always denied the allegations made against him.