Former Strictly Come Dancing professional Kristina Rihanoff has stepped up her efforts in relation to the “shocking” misconduct investigations which are “fatally tarnishing” the show.
The 46-year-old Russian dancer, who starred on Strictly from 2009 to 2015, shared her thoughts on the ongoing allegations of abuse by professionals.
Graziano Di Prima has been sacked after five years on Strictly following allegations he punched and kicked fellow celebrity host Zara McDermott.
It came after Amanda Abbington alleged that Giovanni Pernice “bullied” her during rehearsals.
During an appearance on GMB on Monday, the former pro claimed her rehearsals were always filmed with crew members present as she defended the show.
Former Strictly Come Dancing professional Kristina Rihanoff, 46, has stepped up her efforts in relation to the “shocking” misconduct investigations which are “fatally tarnishing” the show.
The Russian dancer, who starred on Strictly from 2009 to 2015, has shared her thoughts on the ongoing allegations of abuse by professionals.
Kristina, who worked closely with Giovanni, said she was “shocked” to learn of the allegations against him because “he was always a great person to work with.”
However, he added that it is very “difficult” to comment on how professionals work when they are training another celebrity privately.
Speaking to presenters Charlotte Hawkins and Richard Madeley, he said: “It’s… It was a surprise, especially with Giovanni, because I worked with him on the show.
‘And as I said before in my experience, in a professional environment, with large groups, he was always a great person to work with.
‘It’s very difficult to comment on that though because we’ve never been with another professional, training another celebrity together in the same room, that never, ever, ever happens, so you can’t really know what each one is like with their celebrities.
“When I was on Strictly, we were always being filmed. Every second of our rehearsals was filmed.”
He added: “It was kind of a rule, they explained to me why, but we always had cameras. We were forbidden to do any practice with any celebrity without cameras recording and I think that’s the right way because then the proof is there when you look at the videos.”
Emphasizing once again that the selection process should be much stricter than it used to be, Kristina said she had to go through a “very” in-depth interview to be able to star on the show.
Graziano Di Prima was sacked after five years on Strictly following allegations that he punched and kicked his celebrity partner Zara McDermott
It came after Amanda Abbington alleged that Giovanni Pernice “bullied” her during rehearsals.
During an appearance on GMB on Monday, the former pro claimed her rehearsals were always filmed with crew members present.
Kristina, who worked closely with Giovanni, said she was “shocked” to learn of the allegations against him because “he was always a great person to work with.”
However, he added that it is very “difficult” to comment on how professionals work when they are training another celebrity privately.
Speaking to presenters Charlotte Hawkins and Richard Madeley, she said: “It was a surprise, especially for Giovanni, because I worked with him on the show.”
She added: “There needs to be a proper selection process. When I was offered to participate in the programme, I had to do a very thorough interview and present all my professional qualifications.
‘I had to present many references from dance groups in the United States who knew me and with whom I worked.
“I had a lot of references of who he was and who he was. I had 10 years of teaching experience. A lot of people who were in the program at the time had the same kind of pedigree.”
The dancer flew in from the US to be interviewed for 45 minutes on camera, and had to demonstrate her teaching style for the Cha Cha Cha and Waltz using a runner as a simulated student.
Kristina, who is engaged to her former celebrity partner Ben Cohen, later returned to the United States and filed massive amounts of paperwork detailing her certification in various dance styles, as well as teaching qualifications and character profiles.
She had 10 years of experience teaching dance when she was hired for the show, something she feels may be missing in the current cast.
This comes after Kristina said that while some of the pros on the show may now be great dancers, the job is primarily to teach in a way that a celebrity can understand and help them thrive.
This comes after Kristina said that while some of the pros on the show may now be great dancers, the job is primarily to teach in a way that a celebrity can understand and help them thrive.
She had 10 years of experience teaching dance when she was hired for the show, something she feels may be lacking in the current cast (Kristina pictured with her former celebrity partner and now fiancé Ben Cohen in 2014)
Kristina said that when she applied to be on the show in the 2000s, she went through a serious selection process (pictured with celebrity partner Simon Webbe in 2015)
Graziano was sacked after five years on Strictly following allegations he punched and kicked his celebrity partner Zara McDermott.
Speaking to Lorraine last week, she said: ‘All the professionals from my years on the show, we all come from competitive backgrounds.
‘We were all teaching, and teaching for some time, so we had that experience of teaching people.’
‘That’s the main job, not that you can stand on your head and do somersaults in a group act.
“That’s all very well, but in the end what matters is the ability to teach and I think some professionals who are very young probably don’t have any teaching experience.”