After a series of damning accusations, Strictly Come Dancing is dealing with the kind of scandal that it’s so far managed to avoid. Giovanni Pernice, 33 – who has been a professional dancer on the show since 2015 – is reportedly facing the possibility of formal complaints about his behaviour from his former partners, including Amanda Abbington, 52, Ranvir Singh, 46, and Laura Whitmore, 38. All of which has put an unprecedented strain on Strictly’s long-standing presenter, Tess Daly.
An insider close to Tess, 54, tells Closer, “Tess is really feeling the pressure as there is talk of Giovanni’s old partners getting together to bring him down and she’s worried what it’s going to do to the show. She feels Strictly is in a good place and doesn’t want this overshadowing everything.”
It has been alleged that the three celebrities held a “summit” to discuss Gio’s behaviour and the possibility of formally complaining to the BBC about their interactions with him. Amanda, who was partnered with Giovanni in the most recent series and left the show early due to “medical reasons”, later claimed that she had suffered from mild PTSD after her time on Strictly. It was claimed that Amanda had even considered legal support to ask the BBC for access to her rehearsal footage, but now reports say the three women are “comparing notes” to decide whether to escalate their complaints further.
All of this spells bad news for the much-loved show. Closer’s source says Tess is “very torn” about the whole thing as she is good friends with Laura Whitmore and wants to support former contestants but, as the face of the show, she feels she has to stand by the dancers – including Gio.
“She knows they have every right to speak up about the upset they say they went through and Tess would hate to think that someone like Laura has bad memories of working on Strictly,” the insider explains.
For now, we’re told Tess is choosing to judge Giovanni on the way he is with her and has refrained from speaking publicly on the matter.
“She’s finding it all very stressful and is worried what it will mean for the future of the show if Gio is punished for being too harsh on his dance partners,” says the source.
However, the dancer remains resolute and when asked recently – alongside fellow pro Anton Du Beke – if he would be quitting the show he said, “Why would we do that? We love our jobs. It’s one of the best shows on television and we get to do our own shows too.” He later added that he is a “perfectionist”, but that it “comes from a perspective of caring” and thinks “all professional dancers are in the same place”.
There’s no doubt that the whole scandal has placed a cloud over Strictly which, until all the facts are straightened out, is Tess’s main concern.
The source says, “Gio is very popular with viewers so if he had to leave, his loss would be felt. But Tess’ friends and family are telling her not to worry, it’s not her responsibility and the women aren’t slating the actual show, it’s just that they didn’t enjoy being taught by Giovanni. Strictly has survived worse than this and the show is bigger than any dancer.”