Giovanni Pernice breaks silence on future at BBC after Amanda Abbington bullying row
Professional dancer Giovanni Pernice has broken his silence following his departure from Strictly Come Dancing earlier this year. Giovanni was investigated by the BBC following complaints of bullying from his celebrity partner Amanda Abbington, of which six of 17 were upheld.
Giovanni spoke out on the How To Be Famous podcast, which is hosted by magician James Phelan, the nephew of former Strictly celebrity Debbie McGee. When asked about the future and a potential return to the Strictly ballroom, he said: “You never know what is going to be next. Strictly, like every other of those jobs when you have to give your life 100 per cent - they are quite tiring you know? When I said I need a break, I need a break, but never say never?”
As well as appearing as a professional dancer on Strictly for eight years, Giovanni also co-hosted a travel show with friend Anton Du Beke, in which the pair visited Giovanni’s native Sicily in the first show and then went to Spain, where Anton’s mother is from, for the second. The series was a success but Giovanni said he did not know if there would be any more made. “No we don’t know yet,” he replied when asked. “I think the budget for the BBC is quite low so we just keep doing what we are doing. It’s a shame because it was a successful show, I think it had over four to five million viewers.”
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Giovanni recently appeared on the Italian version of Strictly, reaching the semi finals, but again he could not confirm if he would return to the series.
“It is the same as you said to me before about Strictly, I don’t know? I will tell you why, I am focused on the eight months of tour that is coming up,” referring to his stage tour with Anton that is due to start in June 2025.
Reminiscing about Strictly, Giovanni said: “It’s never been about the glitterball, it has always been about making sure those celebrities will look good on Saturday night. Because when you have got Strictly you have got 13 weeks and every week is an achievement. It’s not like a big movie it is like short videos - every week is a different dance, it’s a different thing so that is the ambition.”
He also spoke about what it was like being paired with a celebrity who wasn’t a natural dancer. “As a good professional you just deal with it, make it work until the end and try to get out of it as much as you can.”
