Ex Strictly Come Dancing Giovanni Pernice’s friends have said that Amanda Abbington is having ‘one last throw of the dice’ in the probe by submitting ‘evidence’ of his alleged abusive behviour
Amanda Abbington has reportedly got ‘one last throw of the dice’ in the Strictly Come Dancing bullying probe.
The results of the BBC’s investigation into allegations of Strictly professional Giovanni Pernice’s “abusive behaviour” has been delayed again after Amanda’s latest submission of evidence.
Close friends of Italian dancer Giovanni, 33, who strongly denies all the claims made against him, have reportedly said that Amanda is having “one last throw of the dice” by providing the latest clip to the BBC.
It comes as sources claim that Giovanni was set to be exonerated by the corporation in the probe.
However, the professional dancer is said to be “absolutely furious” that the investigation is still yet to wrap up and has reportedly lost over £100,000 in earnings while waiting to be cleared.
It has now been claimed that Amanda has sent a small video clip Giovanni sent her via WhatsApp to BBC bosses in the hope that it will win her case.
BBC sources told the Mail on Sunday that it is “sex-related” but also “very much banter”, with the suggestion from his friends that they had been on good terms at the time he sent it and that Amanda had found it funny.
“The clip was the sort of thing that might be shared around a group on a stag-do. It has a sexual theme but all very jokey. Yet if someone wants to say they are offended by it, that’s their right,” a source told the publication.
The reports claim that Amanda shared the clip with the BBC earlier this year but decided to raise it again. It is believed that the video does not exist any longer but that the messages concerning it may do. It has been reported that it is unknown if the BBC has seen the video.
Further reports claim that Italian dancer Giovanni was first sent the video by a BBC employee, potentially complicating the matter. “If they find against Gio, they will be under pressure to take action against any employee who has passed on the clip. This would be another nightmare but as with the BBC, while they back their staff they won’t want to be accused of double standards in any way,” a source said.
Last month, Sherlock actress Amanda suggested during an interview with Channel 4’s Krishnan Guru-Murthy – who also appeared on last year’s Strictly – that some of the “bullying” of Giovanni was “of a sexual nature”.
Guru-Murthy had first asked: “I heard, not from you, from somebody else, about an instance of, I suppose you’d call it humiliating behaviour of a sexual nature, is that right?”
To which she replied: “Yeah. I mean, you know, one of the many things.” Amanda then confirmed that the violent threats have been made by die-hard Strictly and Giovanni Pernice fans.
“When you get one of two of those, you kind of go ‘Oh god, okay’, but I was getting dozens a day on social media – like dozens of people just saying ‘you should go and kill yourself’. Other people told me that they hope I die of cancer or said that my kids would be better off if I killed myself.”
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Source: Los Angeles Times (edited)
