Giovanni Pernice has claimed that his former Strictly Come Dancing partner Amanda Abbington made a Nazi salute and used rude names during their rehearsals, describing the behaviour as 'banter.' The professional dancer, 35, made the allegations in an excerpt from his upcoming memoir, Gio: Taking the Lead, serialised in the Daily Mail.
Abbington, 52, best known for her role in Sherlock, competed on the BBC show in 2023 with Pernice as her partner. She withdrew after five weeks, citing health reasons, and later accused him of bullying and creating a 'toxic environment.' Pernice has consistently denied these allegations.
Pernice details 'banter' and gestures
In the memoir excerpt, Pernice described how his communication style varied with each celebrity partner, depending on their personality and humour. He claimed Abbington 'quickly set the tone' by calling him a 'k**b head' in a birthday text and that the two routinely used the c-word in what he labelled 'banter.'
He wrote: 'If somebody calls me rude names and makes rude gestures, including a Nazi salute (which Amanda did), it means our banter is at that level.' Pernice also recounted that a BBC producer asked Abbington if she was comfortable being called the c-word, and she reportedly replied that she had started it.
Training tensions and mixed messages
Pernice said he told Abbington upfront that training is 'mentally and physically exhausting,' claiming producers downplay the difficulty. He described how 'the wheels started to come off' as the weeks progressed. According to Pernice, another celebrity from the line-up told him that Abbington had shared in a WhatsApp group that she wanted to quit because he was 'too much.'
He wrote: 'I was stunned. Why would she send nice, encouraging messages to me but then tell another group chat she wanted to quit?' After this, he began filming rehearsals to 'protect himself,' and the BBC assigned a chaperone. He said Abbington had not raised concerns with him directly, but production later asked him to 'relax' his training approach.
BBC welfare measures and response
Pernice also accused the BBC of failing to safeguard its stars by not conducting psychological assessments of celebrity contestants to ensure they were 'mentally able to cope with the challenge.' He wrote: 'This is a big mistake by the BBC and it puts the celebrities and the pro dancers at risk. Put simply, I think the Corporation failed us.'
Metro contacted the BBC for comment, and they pointed to the 2024 announcement of additional welfare measures on the show, including chaperones in rehearsals, two new roles dedicated to welfare support, and further training for the production team. Metro also contacted Amanda Abbington's representative for comment on this story.
