Giovanni Pernice is supported by Lauren Oakley (2024)

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Former Strictly Come Dancing professional Giovanni Pernice has been given a ringing endorsem*nt from a former colleague as the BBCbegin a probe into his alleged conduct on the show.

Three women, including actress Amanda Abbington, have hired £700-an-hour lawyers at leadingLondon law firm Carter Ruck to pursue claims against Giovanni and the BBC.

The Sicilian dancer, 33, is accused of 'threatening and abusive behaviour' while working with celebrity contestants on the show, among them Abbington, Good Morning Britain presenter Ranvir Singh and former Love Island hostLaura Whitmore.

But former Strictly colleague Lauren Oakley has now backed Giovanni after he was labelled 'nasty' during an interview with the Daily Mail's Katie Hind.

Taking to Instagram with a now expired post, Lauren - who was hired for Giovanni's popular stage show - shared s clip of them dancing with close friend Anton Du Beke to the ballad Unstoppable bySia.

Abbington previously spoke out after the Daily Mail reported Giovanni had asked the BBC to record his rehearsals with the actress over growing concerns about her behaviour.

Speaking to Katie Hind, she said: ‘I asked for them to be recorded, it was me. Giovanni is nasty. He was awful to a few of us, a group of us.’

Abbington went on to describe how her life had been devastated by the experience, which has exploded since she quit the show abruptly in the middle of the last series.

In January, she claimed she had suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after working with Giovanni, and later complained of sustaining a bruised foot in training.

‘You don’t understand how awful this all is,’ she said. ‘Giovanni’s fans have started trolling me now. I have had to come off social media and I’m getting death threats.’

The actress also insisted that she had complained of Giovanni’s behaviour soon into the series. ‘I went to producers early on and told them about Giovanni,’ she said.

And she lamented of the fallout: ‘All of this because I didn’t enjoy a television programme. I didn’t enjoy it because of all of this.’

No details of how Giovanni is alleged to have behaved have yet been released. But days after her phone call, the BBC put out an unprecedented statement about the dispute.

After weeks of silence, when their press office would either ignore my questions or simply reply ‘no comment’, a spokesman vowed that the broadcaster would carry out its investigation with ‘care, fairness and sensitivity to everyone concerned’.

The spokesman said: ‘If a complaint is made to the BBC, we assess and take any necessary steps to establish the facts, whether there is a case to answer, and, if appropriate, what action should be taken.

‘This is all within the context of the BBC having duties of care to everyone linked to a complaint – that applies to those that have raised the complaint and to those that have been complained about.

‘Whilst we know our shows have been positive experiences for many of those who have taken part, we will always look at any issues raised with care, fairness and sensitivity to everyone concerned.’

Sources familiar with the situation say the BBC came under pressure from Amanda’s team to say publicly that it was she who asked for the rehearsals to be taped.

A source said: ‘It’s terrible, really. Amanda wanted the BBC to set her record straight, to confirm her version of events. But of course they can’t. It just shows that if she doesn’t like what is being said, she shouts loudly about it.’

Amanda AbbingtonLove IslandLaura Whitmore