Giovanni Pernice has stated that he harbors no ill will towards Amanda Abbington following bullying allegations made against him. In a recent interview, he hinted at the possibility of returning to Strictly Come Dancing, emphasizing his commitment to moving forward positively. Giovanni’s remarks come amid discussions surrounding the allegations, as he focuses on his future prospects in the competition.
The former Strictly Come Dancing professional, 34, appeared on Lorraine on Tuesday to discuss the investigation into the bullying allegations, following his detailed account of the incident with Amanda Abbington shared with the Mail’s Katie Hind. In the interview, Giovanni expressed that he would be open to having a “nice cup of tea” with the 50-year-old actress if they were in the same room, indicating his desire to talk through their issues amicably.
Giovanni denied any claims of conflict between him and Amanda Abbington, stating that they “never had an argument” and that he was unaware of her discomfort until she made the allegations months later. During the interview, he also hinted at the possibility of returning to Strictly Come Dancing, following his departure due to the ongoing investigation.
When asked on Lorraine, hosted by Christine Lampard on Tuesday, if he would want to apologize to Amanda if they were in the same room, Giovanni responded, “I think we would have a nice cup of tea, we’ll have a chat and talk about what happened in that room. It’s very difficult because at that time everything was perfect.” He reiterated, “Me and Amanda never had an argument.”
“Yes, she does obviously say that she was deeply uncomfortable, and that was after six months, but why didn’t she come to me at that time?” Giovanni remarked. He added, “If you were uncomfortable, you would come to me and say, ‘We’re not getting along.’ Then I probably would have had a chat, like in every other relationship, and we would have talked it through to make it better.”
He emphasized, “Realistically, Amanda and I never had an argument. We always had discussions about steps. Yes, we did have meetings with the BBC, but we always moved forward from there. I did have a meeting with the BBC with all my other partners.”
Despite being cleared of most of Amanda’s complaints and acknowledging the challenges of the past year, Giovanni expressed his support for Amanda speaking out if she felt something had occurred. “It’s good that Amanda came forward to talk about something she thought happened,” he stated.
