BBC reveal findings of investigation over Amanda Abbington complaints about Giovanni Pernice

They've upheld some, but not all, of the complaints made

Author: Alex RossPublished 30th Sep 2024

Following months of investigations into Strictly Come Dancing, after 2023 contestant Amanda Abbington complained about her professional partner Giovanni Pernice's behaviour, the BBC have now concluded their report.

BBC bosses have publicly apologised to actress Amanda, who previously dubbed her Strictly experience with Giovanni as 'inappropriate, mean and nasty', and have revealed they've upheld some, but not all, of the complaints made.

The BBC said in a statement on Monday 30th September: "We take any allegations of bullying and harassment very seriously and this review has taken time due to its complex nature and our desire to ensure a rigorous and robust process was undertaken.

"Strictly Come Dancing is a family show and we rightly expect very high standards. While competition can be tough, rigorous and demanding, we want the show to ultimately be a joyous and transformative experience. It is a great shame if this hasn’t been the case for everyone who has appeared on the show.

"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.

"At the time, although the production team took steps to address the issues as they understood them, ultimately these were not enough. This is why the measures we have taken to further strengthen our existing protocols are so important.

"The BBC heard from a number of individuals in making its findings. We want to thank them for participating.

"The BBC has already taken extensive steps to enhance our duty of care for everyone on the show and a full note of these steps is published alongside this statement."

Amanda, who dropped out of the 2023 series during Week Six, appeared on Lorraine back in July where she told host Christine Lampard she first raised concerns on the third day of her Strictly experience.

On her experience, Amanda said: “It was inappropriate, it was mean, it was nasty, it was bullying. I put up with it for five weeks, you know, five, six weeks. It started very early on and when it started to happen, I would shut down because I would recognise those red flags and so, I would shut down, and then it would be difficult to get in. So, that would just be a self fulfilling prophecy.”

She added: “I am doing press for the play so, I think you know, talking about Strictly had to come up. I couldn't stay silent on it because it would have been really weird. I don't want people to be frightened of speaking out if they're being bullied or if they feel they're in a difficult situation, or if they feel that they're not being heard and so, I was doing publicity for the play and people asked me about Strictly… There are things I can't talk about, obviously, and I'm honouring the complaint, I'm not speaking out of turn, I'm not saying anything specific that happened.

“But, I do feel I have the right to say it was a toxic environment that I was in while I was rehearsing, because it was, you know. I know what happened in that room. It would be remiss of me if I was to just say, ‘It's fine, I don’t want to talk about it’ but it's important that women and men - because men get bullied as well - it's important that women feel they are in a safe space where they can stand up and go, ‘This is inappropriate behaviour and it needs to be recognised’, and I don't want women to feel like they can't speak out.”

Lorraine producers asked Giovanni Pernice for a reply to Amanda's comments, to which his spokesperson said: "We are cooperating fully with the BBC's review process. All parties have been asked to respect this process and to not speak to the media before it concludes. We will continue to respect the integrity of the investigation and believe it is the right forum for all the evidence to be reviewed. As part of the evidence-led review, the BBC has shared the allegations they have been able to substantiate with us.

"They do not resemble Amanda's latest allegations, given to ITV, in any shape or form. We would urge people to wait for the review's conclusion and not to pay heed to very serious and defamatory allegations that have no evidence in support of them. Giovanni refutes any claim of threatening or abusive behaviour and have provided the BBC with his evidence, is confident that the review with prove this."

Following the BBC concluding their investigation into the allegations made, Giovanni and Amanda are yet to publicly speak at this time.

Ahead of the 2024 series, which is now airing every weekend, BBC bosses introduced new welfare procedures, which involves a chaperone being in attendance during every rehearsal between the celebs and professionals.