‘I want Giovanni back on Strictly,’ admits judge Anton Du Beke as he breaks silence on BBC probe into his best friend
ANTON Du Beke breaks his silence on the Strictly scandal after his best friend Giovanni Pernice was axed.
The Strictly judge addressed professional dancer Giovanni’s axe after a former contestant branded him “abusive, cruel and mean.”
Amanda Abbington, who took part in 2023, spoke out against pro partner Giovanni Pernice.
The 50-year-old actress complained to the BBC that she had suffered five weeks of inappropriate behaviour before ultimately pulling out of the show.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun on Sunday, Amanda said: “I found Giovanni’s behaviour unnecessary, abusive, cruel and mean.
“I couldn’t sit back and let him do that to other people.
“I had to think long and hard about making a complaint because I knew the backlash I would get.
“But I would not have been able to live with myself for future people going on that show.”
The Sun TV Mag asked Anton if he would like to see Giovanni back on the BBC talent show.
He said: “I’d like to see him back of course, but we’ll enjoy Aljaz, and his new efforts on the show this year, and we’ll move forward.
“We get a whole new bunch of celebrities, and we go on from there.”
Addressing the scandal, Anton added: “It’s one of those situations where I sort of feel like I’m on the outside looking in, because it’s about stuff that of which I’m not involved in, any more.
“So I’m not part of the…. but it’s, you know, you don’t. You Never want any bad press, if you like, or anybody to say anything negative about the thing that you love.
“So I feel sad but I’m sort of waiting it… I’ve been waiting for it to sort of get through this part and then get on with the new show.
“Really, I think we’ve, I think there’s been a sort of period of time now that we’ve been waiting for the new show to start so we can, we can get on with the good stuff, really.
“Yeah, you never, you never want anything unpleasant to be said about the thing you so it’s been, it’s been unfortunate, and I hope it, I hope we have, hope we have a great series.
“You’re always disappointed if somebody doesn’t have a good time.
Strictly's full scandal so far
Strictly Come Dancing's scandal has been growing over the past few months, with several major players speaking out about what went on. Here are the key moments of what's happened so far
16th May: Giovanni Pernice sensationally quits Strictly Come Dancing after nine years on the show.
17th May: Giovanni becomes the centre of an official investigation after three former partners – believed to be Amanda Abbington, Laura Whitmore and Ranvir Singh – make complaints to the BBC.
16th June: Giovanni releases an official statement vowing to clear his name and denies any wrongdoing.
8th July: Strictly confirms Aljaz Skorjanec will return to the series, replacing Giovanni, after initially quitting the show two years ago.
10th July: Amanda Abbington launches fresh legal proceedings to get the rehearsal footage from her time with Giovanni, after allegedly he refused to release the videos.
13th July: Graziano Di Prima is axed from Strictly for “gross misconduct” after footage of his treatment of Zara McDermott is brought to the attention of the BBC.
Graziano quickly broke his silence, apologising for his behaviour in a statement and saying he “deeply regrets it”, adding his “intense passion and determination to win might have affected his training regime.”
15th July: Strictly bosses implement new duty of care protocols, including having a chaperone present throughout all rehearsals.
16th July: Zara McDermott speaks out publicly for first time. She states while the production team were “amazing to work with”, she found the rehearsal room “completely different”, confirming there’s footage of “certain situations”.
19th July: Anton Du Beke is put under the spotlight for his “1970s attitude” and treatment of female celeb stars, particularly after allegedly referring to 2009 partner Laila Rouass as a “p***” after getting a spray tan.
21st July: Paralympian Will Bayley, who has limb condition arthrogryposis, revealed he was encouraged to leap from a table during a dance routine, despite fears. The stunt caused an injury that forced him to withdraw from the show.
22nd July: MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace admits he broke down in tears and got a nasty stress rash on his face during his time on Strictly in 2014.
22nd July: Despite ongoing issues, the Strictly professional cast begin rehearsals for this year’s series.
23rd July: Celebrity agent Melanie Blake claims she was sexually assaulted by an unnamed pro dancer while backstage on the show, and claims she witnessed ageism, rudeness and a rough treatment to the point of injury.
23rd July: Strictly is forced to beef up security after ‘an intruder scales the wall of the rehearsal studio’.
23rd July: BBC boss Tim Davie breaks his silence on the ongoing allegations against Strictly, saying he is ‘deeply sorry’, adding: “Hundreds of people, be they pros, contestants or crew have been part of it and had a brilliant experience.
“At the same time if someone thinks there was something wrong or they want to talk about their experience then of course we want them to raise that with us. Be in no doubt we will take it seriously, listen and deal with it as appropriate.”
24th July: Strictly 2023 star Krishnan Guru-Murthy holds a bombshell interview with Amanda Abbington on Channel 4 news, where she claims she was bullied, with some of the ‘humilation being of a sexual nature’.
27th July: Laura Whitmore releases a statement regarding her Strictly experience, saying “I thought my experience was specific to me but I’ve since learned I was wrong”.
She adds she is not part of the official complaint, but has come forward to support Amanda with the BBC, alongside others.
28th July: Laila Rouass speaks out against the accusations regarding Anton Du Beke, saying she “never felt pressured” by him and “personally insisted on six to seven hours training a day”.
10th August: Graziano breaks his silence on his Strictly axe, saying “these vile, false allegations have ruined my life.”
He also told of the “shocking” end to his friendship with Zara McDermott.
We also revealed that Amanda Abbington was also quizzed for a second time as Strictly execs recruited 15 new staff to monitor rehearsals.
11th August: Just as the investigation was expected to conclude, Amanda made a dramatic intervention. Giovanni was on the brink of being cleared until Amanda handed in more text messages.
24th August: Graziano Di Prima called in top lawyers to sue the BBC and to try to clear his name. He recruited big hitters Whitestone Chambers to fight his corner.
A source said: “They’ve also looked at his BBC contract and believe there are grounds to sue.”
Meanwhile, the BBC also delayed releasing the findings of the probe into Giovanni Pernice. The Sun revealed that the results of the three-month investigation were unlikely to be announced in August.
“And you know, you wish, you wish that they did, but it’s sort of one of those things, isn’t it? And then you just, you hope that, you know, 99% of people did have a great time. And you focus on that.”
Fellow pro dancer Graziano Di Prima was axed over allegations of physical and verbal behaviour towards his former dance partner Zara McDermott.
The BBC released a statement saying: “We can confirm that Graziano Di Prima is no longer a part of the line-up of professional dancers for the upcoming series of Strictly Come Dancing.
“While we would never comment on individual cases, it is well-known that the BBC has established and robust duty of care procedures, and if issues are raised we will always take them seriously and act swiftly as appropriate.”
A Beeb source told The Sun: “They moved very quickly in this situation and have offered Zara support she needs.
“It’s a shock for everyone involved.”
2024 contestant, Toyah Willcox, has opened up about the extreme measures taken to keep the show’s celebs safe this year.
The singer-songwriter, 66, said “I feel safe with this team.
“We have a psychologist with us all day, an amazing celeb producer, stunning press team… it’s a long time since I have felt this well looked after.
“What I mean by this is touring demands a level of complete independence, I do my own make up, carry my costumes etc, here in Strictly world they want us celebs to know they are here to support us 360 degrees.”
Series 22 of Strictly Come Dancing launches on September 14.