Amanda Abbington’s fiancé Jonathan Goodwin has broken his silence after the findings of her Strictly probe against Giovanni Pernice were released.
The professional dancer, 34, left the show after his former celebrity partner Amanda, 50, made numerous complaints about his behaviour and has since joined the cast of the Italian version of the show Ballando Con Le Stelle.
Out of 17 allegations, the BBC upheld six, some of which are for Mr Pernice using swear words. The report found that his language could be ‘belittling.’
The BBC also agreed with Amanda that at times he appeared to be giving her overly negative feedback.
Joanthan took to Instagram on Wednesday and shared a photo of himself and Amanada meeting Princess Anne.
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Amanda Abbington’s fiancé Jonathan Goodwin has broken his silence after the findings of her Strictly probe against Giovanni Pernice were released
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The professional dancer, 34, left the show after his former celebrity partner Amanda, 50, made numerous complaints about his behaviour
In the caption, he wrote: ‘What an amazing woman. Never met anyone so determined to stand up for what’s right.
‘To advocate for the needy and to never cow-tow to the bullying media. The Princess Royal is also amazing.’
Amanda and former escapologist and stunt performer Jonathan began dating in 2021 and were reported to have got engaged in May last year.
It comes after Amanda revealed she held a summit of other Strictly Come Dancing contestants in her own home to swap stories of treatment on the show.
The actress said she and the other stars wept as they spoke of their experiences working with Giovanni.
And she added she is considering further action against the BBC after the Corporation apologised to her following her complaints over Giovanni.
In an interview with Victoria Derbyshire on Newsnight on Wednesday, Amanda described her time in the rehearsal room, where she said she ‘lost all sense of reality’.
She added she met up with other celebrities who were previously partnered with Pernice on the BBC show.
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Joanthan took to Instagram on Wednesday and shared a photo of himself and Amanada meeting Princess Anne
Revealing she invited the group to her house, Amanda said ‘we all cried, we all burst into tears.
‘We just wanted to make sure that we weren’t on our own and thinking this had just happened to us.’
‘Everyone I spoke to all said the same thing, it wasn’t pleasant and it wasn’t what everyone else was going through in the other [rehearsal] rooms.’
The actress told Newsnight when asked about how she will proceed now the report has been published, that she is ‘taking guidance from my lawyer on a day to day basis.’
The star told Newsnight that the ordeal after working with Giovanni had been the most difficult of her life.
‘It has been one of the worst years of my life, I have been through a lot, women go through a lot,’ she said.
‘I have had to deal with a myriad of horrible things that have continued to happen just for complaining.’
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Giovanni has since joined the cast of the Italian version of the show Ballando Con Le Stelle
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Amanda revealed she held a summit of other Strictly Come Dancing contestants in her own home to swap stories of treatment on the show
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Amanda is considering further action against the BBC after the Corporation apologised to her following her complaints over Giovanni
It is one of Giovanni’s wrongdoings which can now be disclosed after the much-anticipated verdict was unveiled on Monday which cleared him of the most serious allegations of physical aggression, but upheld verbal bullying and harassment.
Meanwhile, Giovanni said he was ‘pleased’ to be cleared of ‘threatening and abusive behaviour.’
The report also told how they had upheld six out of 17 allegations from Ms Abbington. The report said that Mr Pernice – a perfectionist – ‘was swearing and using what could be described as belittling language’ which it said amounted to bullying behaviour.
The BBC apologised to the former Sherlock actress and also thanked her for coming forward to raise her grievances.
Within the report of the six-month long investigation which cost the licence fee payers upwards of £250,000, investigators found that the Italian dance star had used belittling language. On another occasion he said: ‘I’m tired of it, if you want to look s*** I don’t care.’
Ms Abbington’s complaint that Mr Pernice would get frustrated with her while teaching her to dance was also upheld by the panel. However, it can be revealed that he told her: ‘You have such talent and you’re not using it.’
Another time he told her: ‘I don’t know how to ask you anymore,’ while another comment saw him tell her ‘it has been four days now and I don’t know what to do’, was also deemed to be wrongful behaviour.
In another outburst, Mr Pernice, 34, said ‘f*****’ while teaching her how to do a routine.
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Mr Pernice’s spokesperson said the dancer is ‘relieved’ after the ‘majority’ of claims against him were dismissed
Meanwhile, the allegation that the Sicilian born ballroom star had also given negative feedback was upheld, one example of which was him throwing his arms in the air and saying ‘f***.’ As a result, Mr Pernice was told by the BBC that he didn’t adapt enough to Ms Abbington’s needs.
Of the two complaints which were upheld of a sexual nature, one saw Mr Pernice grab his crotch and utter a lewd remark. He also told his dance partner that he ‘wanted to f***’ her. That comment came after Ms Abbington had pulled off a great move in the training studio and Mr Pernice was thrilled.
Despite many of Ms Abbington’s serious allegations being thrown out by the BBC, they did say sorry to her. In a statement released on Monday, they said: ‘The BBC has now concluded its review into the complaints made by Amanda Abbington against Giovanni Pernice.
‘We have assessed the complaints and we have upheld some, but not all, of the complaints made. We want to apologise to Amanda Abbington and to thank her for coming forward and taking part.
‘We know this would not have been an easy thing to do.’
In response, Ms Abbington said: ‘As the BBC has indicated today in its statement, my decision to come forward and complain about Giovanni Pernice’s conduct towards me was not an easy thing to do.
‘In the days, weeks and months since I contacted the BBC, I’ve been accused of being a liar, a troublemaker and of being ‘mad and unstable.’
The BBC launched an investigation in April after Ms Abbington made a formal complaint to them about Mr Pernice.
It came three months after she told a red top newspaper that she got post-traumatic stress disorder from her time on Strictly.
Speaking of the review coming to an end, Mr Pernice told the Mail: ‘I’m glad the review has finally come to an end. I’m relieved that the allegations that I was threatening and abusive were found not to be true.
‘It has been an extremely difficult year, reading story after story and not being able to say anything in return as I respected the integrity of the review, which the BBC asked everyone to do.
‘I loved my time on Strictly and made some amazing memories. But now I am fully focused on Dancing With The Stars in Italy and supporting my dance partner Bianca.
‘I’m grateful to all those who have supported me at this time – I really don’t know how I would have got through this without the love and belief of my family, friends, colleagues and fans.’
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Source: USA Today
