In her first interview since the findings of a BBC investigation into Giovanni Pernice’s conduct on the programme were released, the Sherlock star shed new light on the Italian dancer’s alleged behaviour, including claims he made a shocking sexual gesture to her in the rehearsal room.
She told Newsnight’s Victoria Derbyshire: “It was an ongoing litany of being verbally abused, sexual innuendo, sexual gestures. There was a 35 minute rant at me with him throwing his hands in the air and calling me names and how he couldn’t cope with it anymore.
Lawyers for Pernice, who has since explained why he got “frustrated” with Abbington on the show, denied the fresh allegations on Thursday (3 October).
Abbington also hinted at “unresolved” issues after revealing she invited former contestants who were partnered with Pernice to her home, where they all “cried” over their alleged experiences.
Her complaints of verbal bullying and harassment were upheld, while the BBC’s findings concluded that Pernice was not physically aggressive to his celebrity partner – something the dancer declared as a victory.
A spokesperson said that Pernice was pleased the report “has not found any evidence of threatening or abusive behaviour”, adding: “Giovanni is relieved that the overwhelming majority of allegations out to the BBC have not been upheld.”
While Abbington said the BBC’s apology “meant a lot” to her in a statement after the result, she has now suggested this might not be the end of her involvement in the Strictly drama during an appearance on Newsnight.
On Wednesday (2 October), Abbington told host Victoria Derbyshire that she is “taking guidance from my lawyer on a day to day basis” when asked how she will proceed now the report’s findings have been released.
“There's a 30-page report that me and my lawyers are still digesting. There are still things in there that are unresolved.”
The actor also said she hosted a tearful summit with other former Strictly contestants who had previously been coupled with Pernice. While the BBC was conducting its investigation, it was reported that former Love Island host Laura Whitmore and Good Morning Britain’s Ranvir Singh had come forward with their own allegations against Pernice.
Abbington, who said she first raised concerns about Pernice “after three or four days”, did not name Whitmore and Singh, but said she invited the unnamed contestants to her house where, upon arrival, “we all cried, we all burst into tears”.
She said: “We just wanted to make sure that we weren’t on our own and thinking this had just happened to us.
“Everyone I spoke to all said the same thing – it wasn’t pleasant and it wasn’t what everyone else was going through in the other [rehearsal] rooms.”
“It has been one of the worst years of my life”, she said, adding: “I have been through a lot. Women go through a lot. I have had to deal with a myriad of horrible things that have continued to happen just for complaining.”
The actor also defended her decision to speak out against Pernice, stating: “I’m open to criticism. I don’t make problems or trouble where there is none.’
“I have worked 32 years as an actress, in a job that started the MeToo movement and I have never had to leave a job or experience anything like I did in that rehearsal room. I don’t ever make accusations lightly.”
The BBC previously apologised to Abbington and thanked her for coming forward.
“At the time, although the production team took steps to address the issues as they understood them, ultimately these were not enough. This is why the measures we have taken to further strengthen our existing protocols are so important,” the BBC said.
A spokeswoman for Pernice previously welcomed the BBC review, saying they are “pleased that this six-month review has not found any evidence of threatening or abusive behaviour by Giovanni”.
Pernice has always denied the allegations.
Since making the complaints, Abbington said she has had many women thanking her for being “brave enough to stand up and complain about something that was affecting me in a work situation”.
“I’ve had so many women come up to me and just say, can I give you a hug,” she said.
“I love Strictly. I never wanted to cause trouble. I never wanted to bring down a show or ruin anybody’s career,” she said.
“…I experienced something that was deeply upsetting over a prolonged period of time and asked that it could not happen anymore.”
Amanda Abbington has claimed Giovanni Pernice made a ‘shocking sexual gesture’ during their rehearsals for Strictly Come Dancing.
The BBC’s investigation into the Strictly scandal resulted in the broadcaster issuing an apology to Abbington, 50, and upholding some of her complaints against Pernice, 33, but clearing him of the most serious allegation.
The actress pulled out of the BBC One show last year citing ‘personal reasons’, and later claimed she was subject to a ‘toxic environment’ and ‘inappropriate, mean, nasty bullying’, sparking the investigation.
Pernice, who is not part of this year’s Strictly professional dancing line-up and has since joined an Italian dance show, previously rejected ‘any claim of threatening or abusive behaviour’.
There were no findings relating to physical aggression in the investigation, but complaints of verbal bullying and harassment were upheld, it is understood, reported to be six of 17 total complaints.
During a Newsnight interview on Wednesday, Abbington detailed the abuse she allegedly experienced, saying: ‘It was an ongoing litany of being verbally abused, sexual innuendo, sexual gestures.
‘There was a 35-minute rant at me with him throwing his hands up in the air, calling me names and telling me all sorts of things that I was doing wrong and he couldn’t really cope with it anymore.’
‘This went on for seven hours a day for seven days a week,’ she continued.
‘There were pockets of time when it was OK and we got on, which was wrong footing for me because when you’re in that room you never really knew where you were from one minute to the next.
‘You felt very on the front foot all the time and not knowing what was going to happen next which can make you shut down.
‘I shut down in that room. I was called mad and unstable.’
Abbington said she’d ‘never experienced’ anything in her career like she had in those rehearsal rooms, which she said included ‘eye rolling’.
She also discussed the two sexual allegations that were upheld by the BBC, including her claim that Pernice ‘pointed to his groin’ when he was happy with her dance training.
It is understood that Pernice denies this is the case, claiming that the report found ‘no evidence’ of the alleged gesture.
She said: ‘The other sexual allegation was verbal, and they weren’t isolated one-off incidents. They were over a period of seven weeks.’
‘It feels very distorted and you lose sense of reality,’ she said, recalling how she felt at the time, and ‘in hindsight’ she would have ‘walked out’.
Abbington also said she has ‘no regrets’ about lodging complaints against her former dance partner, despite receiving ‘hundreds’ of death and rape threats.
‘It’s been one of the worst years of my life,’ she said.
‘I’ve been through a lot, women go through a lot, but it has been a very unpleasant, turbulent, relentless time in my life.
‘I’ve had to deal with a myriad of horrible things.’
The Sherlock actress said that in the last eight months, the number of threats she received had ‘gone into the hundreds’.
In August, the Metropolitan Police confirmed they were investigating after they were called to the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park to an alleged death threat sent to Abbington, who was starring in When It Happens To You.
‘I had a credible death threat sent to my place of work, a theatre that I was working at, which was credible and the police had to be called,’ Abbington said.
‘I had a bomb threat sent to my place of work, threatening to blow the building up because I was pursuing this.
‘I’ve had death threats sent to me, my family.
‘I’ve had rape threats sent to my 15-year-old daughter, saying “I’m just laughing at the moment thinking about you having to watch your daughter get raped for what you’ve done to Giovanni Pernice”.
‘They were every day I’d be getting those and I have screenshots that have been handed over to the Met Police.’
Abbington said the threats had ‘started up again’ since the publication of the BBC review on Monday.
She said she has been receiving threats including ‘I hope you die of cancer’ and ‘I knew you’d get proven wrong you lying c***’.
Despite the threats, Abbington said ‘I’ve got no regrets’ about lodging complaints against Pernice.
‘The death threats and the rape threats and the abuse I get are horrible and soul-destroying and heart-breaking,’ she said.
‘But I do get women coming up to me in the street saying “you’re paving the way for my daughter to work in a safe environment and not feel threatened or in any way feel that they can’t speak out”.’
During the interview, Abbington also claimed she was not the only person to have complained about working with Pernice on the BBC flagship show.
She said she invited the former Strictly contestants (rumoured to be Ranvir Singh and Laura Whitmore) to her home because ‘we wanted to make sure we weren’t on our own thinking this had just happened to us’.
Abbington said when they first met ‘we all burst into tears’.
Pernice has denied allegations against him, and a spokesman for Pernice said that they did not agree with Abbington’s interpretation of the report and called it a further attempt to damage Pernice’s reputation.
In a statement published on Monday after the verdict was announced, the BBC said it takes allegations of bullying and harassment ‘very seriously’ and that the review into Abbington’s complaints took time because of their complexity, and for ‘a rigorous and robust process’.
‘We have assessed the complaints and we have upheld some, but not all, of the complaints made,’ the statement read.
‘We want to apologise to Amanda Abbington and to thank her for coming forward and taking part. We know this would not have been an easy thing to do.’
The statement added that the BBC production team did take steps to address issues at the time, but, ‘ultimately, these were not enough’.
Following the report, Pernice shared a video on social media, saying: ‘Hello everyone, it’s me. It’s over. It’s finished.
‘Six months, seven months of all of this, seven months of reading everyday things in the newspaper and not being able to respond because I wanted to keep the confidentiality and the privacy of the review, was a difficult time.
‘It was difficult because reading stuff that was untrue, wasn’t the nicest time of my life, let’s be honest.
‘But today I’m happy because at the beginning there were very very serious allegations thrown out at me but as of today, none of the serious allegations have been upheld.
‘All the threatening, abusive, harassment behaviour allegations have not been upheld.
‘And today is a day when we can all reflect because I appreciate that dancing is a very difficult thing to do. It’s a sport, it’s something that is difficult in every possible way and sometimes you get frustrated as a teacher, as a dancer, as a performer, but the only reason why you get frustrated is because you care about what you do.
‘As a professional, as a teacher, I care about, I want to get the best out of my partner, and sometimes I do get frustrated. I think everybody around the world does the same thing, it’s called being professional and I love doing that. Even now with Bianca, I get frustrated, I think it’s a normal thing but then you get out the best and the results come forward.
‘But I’m happy because none of this serious allegation has been upheld.
‘I have to be honest with all of you because without your love, your messages, your support, your constant support, I don’t know if I would be able to even make this message right now.
‘I’m happy because today I can carry on to do what I was born to do, and I love to do which is entertain all of you.
‘This is my life, this is what I do, so I’m always grateful to all of you and just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart, and saying that I love you all and always, always thank you.’
Metro.co.uk has approached Pernice’s reps for comment.
