A fourth star has made a complaint against Giovanni
STRICTLY Come Dancing legend Kristina Rihanoff has spoken in defence of Giovanni Pernice after he quit the programme.
The Italian dancer’s exit was confirmed yesterday when the BBC released the 2024 line-up of its professionals.
After nine years on the programme, Giovanni’s omission was notable and follows his on-going row with actress Amanda Abbington, who he was partnered with on last year’s programme.
There have been accusations of brutal behaviour in the rehearsal room which led Amanda to quit the show and saw her diagnosed with mild post traumatic stress disorder.
Speaking for the first time about it, she said: “Giovanni is nasty. He was awful to a few of us, a group of us.”
Three more of Giovanni’s past partners have come forward with complaints against the star and the BBC is conducting an investigation.
Today Russian pro Kristina spoke to Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard about Giovanni’s decision to leave the show.
She said professionally Giovanni was always “easy-going to work with” and his loss, from a choreography perspective, was very sad.
“I personally always looked forward to his choreography because that’s what I appreciate on the outside because this is the job I love and used to do,” she said.
“I think he produced some beautiful dances and it’s always exciting to watch what he would choreograph. I think the whole situation is very very sad.”
Kristina was followed by fellow ex-Strictly stars James and Ola Jordan, who appeared from their home.
Outspoken James said that “there isn’t smoke without fire” and called the situation “very sad”.
He praised the BBC’s handling of the situation and continued: “I wanted each of my celebrity partners to have best Strictly experience they could. I honestly believe if you went and asked all of them they’d say they had a great time.
“For him to have four people come forward, there’s clearly something there.
“I’m not bad-mouthing Giovanni, none of us clearly know enough about it. I can only discuss what I’ve read in the paper, which is four people that have come forward.
“If that is the case you have to sit up and look at it, isn’t the proof in the pudding a little bit, he’s not coming back.
“There’s something going on we don’t know about, we haven’t seen the footage, so it’s very difficult to comment.”
We revealed over the weekend that an unnamed male star has joined three female complainants in making accusations against Giovanni.
A source last night said: “One of the dancers on the show found it so traumatising that they sought professional help. The show is unlike anything else on TV.
“The pressure on those taking part is huge and shouldn’t be under-estimated.
“But Giovanni’s demanding behaviour behind the scenes took it up a notch and caused significant emotional distress.
“They were so upset by what happened they needed counselling to recover from the toll it took.”
We had already revealed Gio, 33, had quit the show. The Sicilian pro has been questioned over his “brutal, taskmaster training methods”.
Within 24 hours of our story, legal firm Carter Ruck confirmed the BBC had launched an investigation into workplace misconduct.
Three of the dancer’s former partners — believed to be Amanda Abbington, Laura Whitmore and Michelle Visage — have contacted legal firm Carter Ruck.
