Strictly Come Dancing professional Giovanni Pernice will reportedly “face a boycott” on the show amid his alleged “feud” with Amanda Abbington.
The 51-year-old actress allegedly made claims surrounding the Italian dancer’s alleged behaviour towards her.
An inside source has told The Daily Mail: “The fallout between Giovanni and Amanda is causing much concern.”
“Celebrity contestants usually don’t mind which partner they are coupled up with as they’re just happy to be on the show.”
“But Giovanni’s reputation has taken a further hit following Amanda’s experience and they don’t want to be in a position where new contestants may threaten to quit if they’re paired with him.”
Giovanni has appeared on the show for eight years now.
Another source close to the show believes the professional dancer’s reputation as being “tough” on contestants, is not actually much of a concern, as they believe celebrities with ambitions to win would like to work with him.
The source explained: “There’s various types of contestants who sign up for Strictly.”
“Some do it for the experience, learn a new skill and up their profile, while also having some fun.”
“Whereas others are hugely determined and want to lift the Glitterball by putting in the hours in the rehearsals and working their backsides off.”
“If you are aligned with the latter and can accept the tough talking and brutal approach, Giovanni is your man.”
An on-set source has now revealed to The Sun, that the actress has now allegedly taken legal advice and believes that securing the tapes could support her claims about the Italian dancer’s alleged behaviour towards her.
The insider said: “The BBC have received a request for the footage they hold of Amanda and Giovanni. It is known as a data subject access request.”
“There is a feeling that the recordings will lift the lid on what really goes on behind the scenes on Strictly. Things in rehearsals can become very tense.”
“Giovanni is a perfectionist and he can be incredibly full-on.”
This comes after a friend of the star claimed it has taken months for the Mr Selfridge actress to recover from her time on the dance show.
They said: “Amanda has been left broken and saddened by the whole experience. She has needed therapy and was left in shock by the behaviour she was exposed to.”
“It has taken her months to get over what she went through. It was a real shock as she was initially so excited to sign up to the show to learn to dance, but instead she experienced an ordeal.”
“Everyone else was having a fabulous time, but she was really stressed by having to spend eight hours a day with Giovanni. She spent a lot of time crying and couldn’t sleep or eat properly.”
They continued: “She was also receiving a lot of negativity on social media for not mentioning Giovanni in her exit message, which took its toll mentally.”
“Thankfully, family and friends have rallied around her and she is focusing on future projects and trying to put the whole nightmare behind her,” they concluded.
Goss.ie has reached out to the BBC and a representative for Amanda and Giovanni for comment.
