When Amanda Abbington tearfully told Giovanni Pernice that she had found lumps in her breasts, he reacted like a perfect gentleman, her friends say.
Calling her contacts, the Italian dancer gave her the numbers of the doctors who had recommended her, they say.
That was the last time he heard from her. She later quit the ballroom dancing competition and told Strictly bosses she feared she had cancer.
After describing her health shock in a newspaper interview at the weekend, the ongoing saga of Abbington’s dramatic exit from Strictly last October, which everyone has heard, many times, was due to her ‘mistreatment’ and ‘bullying’ at rehearsals that left her with PTSD – took a confusing turn.
“As far as everyone was concerned, Amanda left because she had found some lumps in her breasts which, understandably, left her worried she might have cancer,” says a BBC source.
Amanda Abbington and Giovanni Pernice on Strictly Come Dancing last year
“No one wants to see anyone go through that and Amanda was very kind. Gio was very worried and wanted to help her in any way he could.
‘The next thing is that he has post-traumatic stress disorder… the scenario changed. None of that made sense. She said she left for a totally different medical reason. Everything seemed strange.
The BBC’s five-month investigation into Abbington’s allegations ended last week, with a report confirming six of the 17 complaints he had made against his 34-year-old dance partner. Then, in recent days, the Sherlock actress, 50, who left the show in week six, revealed intimate details of her cancer scare, saying it was the reason she left.
‘In my last week, on Thursday morning, I was in the shower and found two lumps. I got the all-clear after a mammogram a couple of months earlier,” she said.
After a particularly grueling rehearsal, she said she “went to the bathroom, came back and said, ‘I’m going to go to the hospital now because I found two lumps in my chest this morning.'” She told the Sun on Sunday that leaving the rehearsal “was a healthier option than being in that room.”
To his relief, the lumps were later discovered to be benign. Abbington’s early exit from Strictly came after weeks of tensions between her and Pernice.
The BBC’s five-month investigation into Abbington’s allegations ended last week, with a report confirming six of the 17 complaints he had made against his 34-year-old dance partner.
She says she raised issues about him with the BBC at the time and that cameras were installed in the studio, at their request, however, which is something neither of them agree on.
Abbington also claims that the BBC rejected his requests for camera footage, which Pernice claims he requested, another bone of contention between the pair. Then in April, after Abbington ordered London-based law firm Carter-Ruck to file a formal complaint, the BBC launched its own investigation.
It is understood Abbington is being performed for free.
During her Channel 4 interview with Krishnan Guru-Murthy in July, she let slip that she wanted to be compensated and last week it was reported that she was considering legal action.
In fact, during his interview on Newsnight last week, he said he was assessing his situation carefully “day by day”. BBC insiders say the corporation “doesn’t like” the idea of having to pay.
“Amanda most likely has a fight on her hands,” a source said. ‘The BBC apologized and gave him a platform to tell his side on Newsnight.
“The BBC thinks they have been very good to her, but it will be interesting to see what she does next.”
Pernice has yet to comment on the saga, but on Saturday night his spokesperson issued a damning statement on his behalf, accusing Abbington of misrepresenting the investigation’s findings.
She said: ‘The BBC concluded its review almost a week ago. It is deeply worrying that Ms Abbington appears to be committed to continually misrepresenting the findings of the review in television and newspaper interviews.
“Giovanni is focusing on his work on Ballando con le Stelle (the Italian version of the show) and supporting his partner Bianca, and hopes that Ms Abbington can soon accept the findings of the review and look to the future.”
Abbington gave an interview to Newsnight last week in which he said he was assessing his situation carefully “day by day”.
Friends of former Strictly Professional Giovanni have pointed out that he and Abbington actually had a jovial friendship.
The six complaints upheld by the investigation were predominantly the least serious, including one occasion when Pernice told Abbington: “You have talent and you are not using it.”
It was also confirmed that he had used derogatory language.
Meanwhile, the ballroom star was also found guilty of giving negative comments, an example of which was throwing her arms in the air and saying ‘fuck’. As a result, the BBC told Pernice that he had not sufficiently accommodated Abbington’s needs.
Of the two allegations of a sexual nature that were assessed, one saw Pernice grab his crotch and utter an obscene comment. He also told his dance partner that he “wanted to fuck her.”
That comment came after Abbington made a big move in the training studio and Pernice was delighted.
Giovanni is said to be increasingly furious because Abbington throws mud at him.
“He doesn’t know when it’s going to stop,” a friend said.
“We have no idea what he’s going to do next, it’s getting absolutely ridiculous.”
Pernice’s frustrations are perhaps not surprising.
During Abbington’s interview in the newspaper, she made further claims about Pernice that were not confirmed by the BBC investigation.
Friends of the Sicilian-born star point to one in which Abbington claims he called her a “vegetable” to describe her as “lazy,” something she says she found particularly offensive given that her fiancé is disabled.
The report accepted that this was not a form of harassment.
Instead, researchers accepted Pernice’s position that he used the term to describe his posture, and not to describe it as lazy.
‘Gio told the report that he used the word vegetable in the context of Amanda having weak arm positions. He also told them there had been a language barrier. This was accepted by the investigation,” said a source close to Pernice.
The actress also said that Pernice told her that she was a “menopausal woman and she would still screw you.” In fact, sources close to him claim that Abbington would describe herself as “a menopausal woman,” which was accepted by investigators in their 30-page report.
“There was also no evidence to support the allegation that these words (“I’d fuck you”) were used in combination with saying that Abbington was a menopausal woman as alleged,” the review says.
“Gio is a man of about 30 years old,” one tells me. “I probably wouldn’t even know what menopause is or means, let alone say it as an insult, but that’s how Amanda would describe herself to Gio.”
Friends of the former Strictly Professional point out that he and Abbington actually had a jovial friendship.
A friend said: ‘Contrary to what Amanda says now, the two of them had a lot of laughs together.
“Sadly she seems to have forgotten this now and seems to want to see him suffer and make the BBC pay.”