Amanda Abbington‘s Newsnight interview was kept so secret that many BBC employees had no idea it was even taking place.

There was no publicity, no clues. Even ­Giovanni Pernice‘s team were unaware, managing to get a tip off only minutes before it went on air at 10.30pm on Wednesday.

Friends of the Italian ballroom star wonder whether that was because Abbington was always intending to further fan the flames of the row between the doomed Strictly pairing of 2023.

After a six-month investigation by the BBC into allegations of bullying of ­Abbington by Pernice, most of the complaints against the professional dancer were thrown out in the report they finally shared on Monday.

But if heating up the row was her intention, it is fair to say Abbington’s appearance on Newsnight’s sofa, where she was interviewed live by host Victoria Derbyshire, had a ­considerable effect.

I can reveal that Pernice’s lawyers are ­furious at the Sherlock actress’s ­extraordinary claims of sexual misconduct on Newsnight. Abbington told Derbyshire she endured an ‘­ongoing litany of being ­verbally abused, ­sexual innuendo, sexual ­gestures’ and ‘there was a 35-minute rant at me with him ­throwing his hands in the air and calling me names’.

Amanda Abbington’s Newsnight interview on Wednesday was kept so secret that many BBC employees had no idea it was even taking place

Most shockingly, she added: ‘When I got a dance step right, he would outline his ­erection in his trousers and tell me that’s what my dance move had made happen, because I’d got it right.

‘The other sexual allegation was verbal. They weren’t isolated one-off incidents.’

Pernice’s lawyers watched her 18-minute interview about ‘one of the worst years’ of her life in horror, claiming that Abbington’s ­allegations are defamatory.

One source close to the scandal tells me: ‘If anyone thought the report was going to end all of this fall-out, then they are wrong.

‘After that interview, it seems to be just the beginning.’

Abbington’s claims have incensed Pernice and his lawyers at celebrity legal firm ­Schillings because, while the BBC report did uphold the ­allegation that the 34-year-old gestured towards his groin when Abbington had done something well and said words along the lines of ‘look what you made me do’, they found that there was ­insufficient ­evidence to find that he had an ­erection at the time.

In fact, I can reveal that BBC ­investigators said of her claim in its review: ‘No ­witness reported actually seeing an erection’ and ‘there is insufficient evidence to find that Giovanni ­actually had an erection at the time.’

It is understood that a witness, ­interviewed by the BBC, explained that they never felt Abbington, 52, was made to feel uncomfortable, and that she tended to be ‘in on the joke’ and would make similar comments back to Pernice.

Based on witness evidence, Abbington had not received the comments negatively.

In the Newsnight interview ­Abbington also claimed that almost half of her complaints were upheld, but Giovanni’s friends point out it was more than one third – with both sides claiming victory.

­Giovanni Pernice’s lawyers are ­furious at the Sherlock actress’s ­extraordinary claims of sexual misconduct during the 2023 series of Strictly Come Dancing

The figure of upheld complaints published in the report is six out of 17 – or just over a third.

A source close to Pernice says: ‘Amanda went too far, what is she doing?

‘She knows full well what was in the report, she kept referring to it during the interview, saying that she had a 30-page report with her in the studio which she said she and her lawyer are digesting.

‘Pointing to his crotch and making a joke is one thing, outlining an actual erection in the context of proven sexual harassment is literally false.’

Another friend adds: ‘When will she stop? Once again Abbington is destroying Giovanni in the media.

‘For months there have been ­stories in the papers of far more ­serious things Amanda says he did to her but none of them have been upheld, so what has she got to say about that?’

Abbington’s comments were all too much for Pernice to keep his silence and, just before midnight on ­Wednesday, his spokesman told me: ‘It’s disappointing that Ms ­Abbington would knowingly mislead the ­outcome of the report seemingly in order to further attempt to ­damage ­Giovanni’s ­reputation. While Ms Abbington may not like the outcome of the six-month ­investigation, she should not seek to spread false and defamatory claims.’

It is perhaps understandable why the dancer – Strictly’s longest ­serving male professional until he quit in May after the inquiry began – was so cross.

A number of comments Pernice made to Abbington were upheld by the investigators as wrongful ­behaviour, including the phrases ‘you have such talent and you’re not using it’, ‘I don’t know how to ask you anymore’ and, ‘it has been four days now and I don’t know what to do’.

In one outburst, Pernice said: ‘I’m tired of it, if you want to look s***, I don’t care.’

Abbington told Newsnight host Victoria Derbyshire that Pernice ‘would outline his ­erection in his trousers’ when she got a dance move right during rehearsals

Other complaints upheld include Pernice’s use of the f-word while teaching her how to do a routine and giving her negative feedback, ­including throwing his arms in the air and saying ‘f***’.

As a result, Giovanni was told by the BBC that he didn’t adapt enough to Abbington’s needs.

Of the two complaints which were upheld of a sexual nature, one involved the dancer pointing to his groin and uttering a lewd remark.

He also told his dance partner that he ‘wanted to f*** her’ after ­Abbington had pulled off a great move in the training studio, leaving Giovanni impressed.

According to those close to him, this behaviour is in keeping with the deeply passionate ­perfectionist they know, who loves seeing his partners progress.

Abbington enjoyed the ‘banter’ and the BBC did confirm that, while it was inappropriate behaviour, the comments were made and received as jokes, humour and compliments about Abbington’s dancing.

According to the review, it was a two-way, consensual way of talking and behaving.

As for the future, Pernice’s lawyers haven’t ruled out taking legal action against Abbington.

Dressed in a white blouse, black woollen tank top and trousers, her short hair scraped back into a tiny ponytail, a sombre Abbington told Derbyshire: ‘I’ve been through a lot, women go through a lot, but it has been a very unpleasant, turbulent, relentless time in my life.

‘I’ve had to deal with a myriad of horrible things.’

Derbyshire seemingly made no attempt to correct Abbington on her airing of claims which were not upheld in the report.

That is because, I’m told, she was not allowed to see the BBC’s report before the interview went live.

 

Pernice was Strictly’s longest ­serving male professional dancer until he quit in May after the inquiry began

In fact, all there was time for was a short briefing by Pernice’s team, where she was given the necessary investigation background.

Many will question why.

They may also question why ­Derbyshire gave Abbington a ­relatively easy ride.

One BBC insider tells me: ‘Amanda is a female victim so of course she has to be treated with kid gloves.

‘It feels like the BBC is definitely trying to appease her, they want to keep her happy, so they have been very supportive of her. Maybe they don’t want this to drag on.’

That the affair will be brought to the desired swift close now seems unlikely.

Abbington said during the ­Newsnight interview that she and her lawyer at Carter-Ruck are ­considering further action against the broadcaster, ­saying she was taking ­guidance on a ‘day-by-day basis’.

She claims that there is a ‘­significant’ reason why some of the more serious claims were not upheld, though ­Derbyshire didn’t probe her on what that was.

However, recently, friends of the star told The Sun newspaper that Abbington thinks the BBC is a ‘boys’ club’.

Yet Derbyshire did ask her about an article by Mail columnist Sarah Vine, in which she wrote: ‘Women like Abbington are part of the reason other women who find themselves in genuinely awful and much more serious situations don’t get taken seriously.

‘Women who can’t afford fancy lawyers and who don’t get the ­opportunity to air their grievances with the likes of [fellow Strictly contestant and Channel 4 ­broadcaster Krishnan] Guru-Murthy.’

Friends of Pernice suspect that ­Abbington asked Derbyshire to raise the article as it gave her the opportunity to tell Newsnight viewers how women had, in fact, thanked her for speaking up.

In the interview, she said: ‘I’m always shocked when women throw other women under the bus for standing up for something that is wrong, but OK.

‘I’ve had so many women come up to me since I made this complaint, thanking me for being brave enough to stand up and complain about something that was affecting me in a work situation.

‘And they have thanked me and said,’Thank you for giving me the strength to do it as well’.

‘I have had so many women coming up to me asking if they can give me a hug … I did it for the women that were before me, that had gone through the same thing in that work environment.’

Still, not everyone is convinced that Abbington’s decision to speak up has been a good thing – especially Strictly staff, who say the programme now seems boring since the complaint.

One show insider says: ‘Strictly used to be such a fun show to work on, ­sometimes it was a bit risque but it was a laugh.

‘Now, thanks to her we are being ­monitored like naughty school children by the chaperones, it has gone all po-faced and the fun police are in town.’

If this gripping ballroom drama ­continues to rumble on, however, Strictly fans will certainly have plenty to keep them entertained.

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Source: USA Today