Amanda Abbington has issued a statement in reaction to the BBC upholding “some but not all” of her complaints about former Strictly Come Dancing star, Giovanni Pernice.
Abbington alleged “threatening and abusive” behaviour against Pernice while they were paired together on the 2023 series – he’d always denied any claims of wrongdoing.
In the BBC’s report, it stated that there were no findings relating to physical aggression, but complaints of verbal bullying and harassment were upheld.
Abbington said in response: “As the BBC has indicated today in its statement, my decision to come forward and complain about Giovanni Pernice’s conduct towards me was not an easy thing to do.
“In the days, weeks and months since I contacted the BBC, I’ve been accused of being a liar, a troublemaker and of being ‘mad and unstable’.
“I’ve also received rape and murder threats and a bomb threat was sent to my place of work. My family and children have also been subjected to threats and intimidation.
Giovanni Pernice was axed from Strictly amid the investigation
PA
“Despite this vile abuse, I’ve never regretted coming forward, and today’s apology from the BBC is a vindication of my complaint.
“It’s not just a vindication for me, it’s a vindication for the other people who have contacted me since I made my complaint to express concerns about their own experiences on Strictly Come Dancing.
“I hope those who have felt unable to speak out now will be more confident that they will be listened to and believed.”
Turning her attention to the future, she continued: “The BBC has invited me to meet with senior management and this is something I will now be considering.
We have today published a statement in relation to Strictly Come Dancing and duty of care
Read here ➡️ https://t.co/tnWrBjqfzG pic.twitter.com/IwKwl14Se7
— BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) September 30, 2024
“This apology means a great deal to me. So too does the fact that the BBC have acknowledged the steps that were put in place to support and protect me and past contestants were ‘not enough’.
“What matters most now is that lessons have been learned and that the BBC makes the changes they’ve promised, to ensure others don’t experience the same ordeal that I and others like me did.”
Delving into the corporation’s decision-making process, chief content officer at the BBC, Charlotte Moore, said a number of complaints under its bullying and harassment policy were upheld – although she couldn’t delve into further detail.
Moore said to the BBC: “There were a number of complaints under our bullying and harassment policy, and a number of those complaints have been upheld. Not all of them, but a number of them have been upheld.
“I’m not able to go into further detail on that, and there are very good reasons for that.
“It’s probably worth me just laying out the confidentiality of a complaints process, which I think is absolutely integral to the complaints process, and confidentiality needs to be respected out of fairness to everybody involved.
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Giovanni and Amanda danced on last year’s Strictly
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“But of course, we’re also trying to balance that with the desire to be open and to be transparent about the way our complaints processes work – and obviously in this case, there’s been lots of media speculation and lots of interest.
“So I think it’s really important that we’re as open and transparent as we can be about that process, which is why we’ve issued the statement.”