Giovanni Pernice has made the bombshell revelation that he and Amanda Abbington requested to be each other’s dance partners on Strictly Come Dancing. The dancer alleges that he met Amanda during the show’s “speed dating” phase, where celebrities briefly dance and converse with each professional.
The 34 year old Sicilian-born performer stated that he asked the producers to pair him with the actress, believing her to be an excellent dancer. He also claims that Amanda had requested him as well, leading the showrunners to agree to their pairing for the previous year’s series.
However, Giovanni’s happiness was short-lived when, during the second week of training, another celebrity contestant reportedly informed him that Amanda had been expressing dissatisfaction with their training in their WhatsApp group messages. “I’ve still got [Amanda’s] messages. They say: ‘Thank you so much for your patience today, you’re an incredible teacher,’ so I just thought it was all great,” said Giovanni.
“Then one of the celebrities came to me and said, ‘You didn’t have a great week, did you? ‘ I was like, ‘What are you talking about? ‘ But Amanda had told them she had a horrible week and that was week one, before the show had even started.”
Amanda, celebrated for her stint in Mr Selfridge, exited the production on October 23, 2023. Giovanni shared with Mail Online his concerns that Amanda might spread what he termed falsehoods about their time on set, reports the Mirror.
He responded by surreptitiously recording their rehearsals.
Expanding on his actions, Giovanni said: “That was the first time I knew that I had to take some action so I asked for chaperones and cameras in the room. I started to record myself on my phone.
“Obviously we were dancing and I wanted to see the video back but at the same time, I did it to protect myself.”
He added: “I told the production team I was doing it because I didn’t feel comfortable in the room, I didn’t feel safe.”
He added that suspicions of Amanda arose when she displayed contradictory behaviour, stating: “At that point, I didn’t think she was going to accuse me of anything but she was saying one thing to me and something else to others on the WhatsApp group. She was telling two different versions of the story.
“They told me not to [film rehearsals] anymore but that they were going to do it instead.”
Contrary to Giovanni’s measures, Amanda later claimed it was her decision to have the rehearsals documented. While Giovanni admits to being a strict instructor, he initially believed he and Amanda could reach the show’s final.
He recalls feeling devastated around Week Six of the series, after hearing from the production crew that Amanda had withdrawn.
According to him, in the year since leaving the show, she’d seemed intent on orchestrating a media skirmish against him.
