Giovanni Pernice teases future amid Strictly scandal: 'Better days to come'

Giovanni Pernice has said "better days" are coming in an Instagram post marking his 34th birthday. The professional dancer, who will not appear in the upcoming series of Strictly Come Dancing, teased "exciting news" that he'll soon be sharing with his fans.

Taking to Instagram on Thursday, the 34-year-old penned: "30+4 today !! Thank you so much to all of you for the messages. I do appreciate your love and your endless support! Better days to come and exciting news to share with you very soon. Love you, all Gio."

The post comes after the BBC launched an investigation into allegations made about Giovanni by his former celebrity dance partner, Amanda Abbington. The results are yet to be made public.

Amanda, who abruptly quit the 2023 series last year, accused the Italian dancer of "inappropriate behaviour" and claimed she was subject to a "toxic environment" while competing on the show.

During an interview with Channel 4 News, the Sherlock star told host Krishnan Guru-Murthy that she and her lawyer were trying to obtain up to 50 hours of footage from her training sessions. She also described Giovanni's behaviour as "bullying and aggressive".

You may also like

• Strictly Come Dancing: every claim made against show so far

• 10 Strictly pro dancers that are still best friends with their celebrity partner

• All of the stars who have been forced out of Strictly Come Dancing

• Strictly babies: see which professional dancers are proud parents

• Strictly Come Dancing's most dramatic moments as the show turns 20

In June, Giovanni, who has denied the allegations made against him, was omitted from the line-up of professional dancers released by the BBC.

His fellow dancer Graziano Di Prima has also left the show after facing claims of misconduct regarding rehearsals with his 2023 partner, Love Island star Zara McDermott.

Responding to the claims via social media in July, Zara said fear of "public backlash" prevented her from opening up about her experience.

In an interview with the Daily Mail in August, Graziano said the allegations were "vile" and "false". "I wasn't meaning to kick her," he said. "I'd never, never do that. My foot brushed her after I kicked the floor. Afterwards I hugged her and said I was sorry. There was no problem. We carried on."

Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One with the launch show at 7:20pm on Saturday 14 September.