Giovanni Pernice’s sister has come to his defence as BBC launched a probe into the claims of “serious misconduct” made against him.
The ex-Strictly dancer came under fire in recent months for his “militant approach to training” after his dance partner Amanda Abbington left the show abruptly – leading to an investigation into his behaviour.
On Tuesday, Korina Travis, who previously worked with Giovanni outside of the BBC show, accused the Italian dancer of behaving questionably when they were colleagues.
Other previous partners who have spoken out against him include Laura Whitmore who claimed she “cried every day” while training with him, and Ranvir Singh who said she had a “total meltdown” during rehearsals with him.
The BBC has now launched an investigation into the claims against the professional dancer, who sources say is a “perfectionist” and can be “incredibly full-on.”
Giovanni’s sister, Angela has come to his defence and insisted that her brother will “always have our support,” and that his whole family are “100 per cent behind him and nothing will change that.”
Speaking from Palermo, his sister Angela told MailOnline: “Giovanni will always have our support, he is family and there’s nothing else to say.”
“The whole family is behind him, mum, dad, me and everyone else, whatever he says is the truth and we support him with all our strength.”
“We are 100 per cent behind him and nothing will change that.”
The pro dancer’s parents have only spoken once publicly about the drama he is involved in once upon Amanda’s shock departure from Strictly.
Giovanni’s parents insisted that their son “was just doing his job,” and his father Piero said: “We are surprised by the fact she left the show because everything was going ok – we thought they could have won.”
“My son is a really nice, polite and respectful boy. He always had good results with different partners and he has never had problems with them.”
