Giovanni Pernice says 'it's very concerning' as he addresses Strictly scandal in first TV interview

Giovanni Pernice made his first television appearance on Tuesday's episode of Lorraine following the Strictly Come Dancing scandal, where he vowed to 'set the record straight'

Giovanni Pernice made his first television appearance on Tuesday's episode of Lorraine following the Strictly Come Dancing scandal.

Only recently, a review was launched by the BBC following Sherlock actress Amanda Abbington making complaints about her 2023 professional dance partner, Giovanni, 34.

The BBC have since apologised to Amanda, 50, and said: "We have assessed the complaints and we have upheld some, but not all, of the complaints made." Giovanni has always denied the allegations and said he was "happy" after the investigation cleared him of the abuse allegations.

Appearing on Tuesday's Lorraine, Giovanni vowed to set the record straight as he admitted he found the Strictly scandal 'very concerning'. The professional dancer also slammed any trolling of the star and also claimed they never had an argument during training.

Guest host, Christine Lampard, also asked Giovanni whether he would change his teaching style to which he said he wouldn't.

Amanda, who pulled out of the BBC One show last year citing "personal reasons", had claimed she was subjected to a "toxic environment" and "inappropriate, mean, nasty bullying".

A written statement from Amanda said it "was not an easy thing to do" to come forward, and she has been "accused of being a liar, a troublemaker and of being 'mad and unstable'" and that she and her children had been threatened. Giovanni has always denied the allegations.

Sharing an Instagram post back in September following the investigation, Giovanni penned: "It’s over, it’s finished, six months, seven months of all of this. Seven months of reading things every day in the newspaper and not being able to respond because I wanted to keep the confidentiality and privacy of the review, (it) was a difficult time.

"It was difficult because, you know, reading stuff that (was) untrue, wasn’t the nicest time of my life lets be honest. But today I’m happy because, at the beginning there were very, very serious allegations thrown out at me but today, none of the serious allegations have been upheld.

"All the threatening, abusive, harassment behaviour allegations have not been upheld. 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.

"You know as a professional, as a teacher, 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.

"You know even now with Bianca [Guaccero, his partner on the Italian equivalent of Strictly, Ballando con le Stelle], I get frustrated, I think it’s a normal thing, but then you get out the best and the results come forward."

It comes as chaperones have been put in place on Strictly during rehearsals for this year after the review launched by the BBC.

Outlining the show’s new duty of care measures in September, the BBC said: "In July, we introduced new measures for training and rehearsals, which are in place for this year’s show.

"These included a production team member present during training room rehearsals at all times; two new roles on the show dedicated to welfare support – a celebrity welfare producer and a professional dancer welfare producer (both started work in August); and additional training for the professional dancers, production team and crew."

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