The BBC upheld six complaints of verbal bullying and harassment against Strictly Come Dancing professional Giovanni Pernice following allegations by his former celebrity partner Amanda Abbington. The scandal triggered a wider reckoning over duty of care on Britain's biggest entertainment show.
Abbington, best known for her role in Sherlock, was paired with Pernice for the 2023 series but withdrew in week five, citing medical reasons. She later accused the Italian dancer of 'unnecessary, abusive, cruel and mean' behaviour during rehearsals, describing a toxic environment that left her feeling bullied and overwhelmed.
The BBC launched an investigation that examined 16 complaints against Pernice over a period of seven months. It upheld six of them, finding that some of his language and tone towards Abbington had been belittling, dismissive and insulting, while clearing him of the most serious accusations, including allegations of physical aggression. Pernice consistently denied threatening or abusive behaviour and said he welcomed the conclusion of the review, describing the pairing as a clash of personalities and defending his demanding training methods as the discipline required of a professional dancer.
The corporation apologised to Abbington and thanked her for coming forward, and she later reached a five-figure financial settlement with BBC Studios. The affair did not end there. Graziano Di Prima, another professional dancer on the show, was sacked after footage emerged of him kicking his celebrity partner, Love Island star Zara McDermott, during rehearsals.
The scandal dominated British showbusiness coverage for months and forced the BBC into sweeping reforms. The corporation introduced chaperones in all rehearsal rooms, appointed welfare producers and strengthened its duty-of-care protocols for both celebrities and professional dancers, acknowledging that the pursuit of glittering Saturday-night entertainment had allowed unacceptable behaviour to go unchecked behind the scenes.
Fellow Strictly stars were drawn into the row. Angela Rippon, who competed in the 2023 series, said in a 2026 interview that the cast had all been aware of the tension between Abbington and Pernice, describing Abbington as very distressed. Pernice, a former Strictly champion with Rose Ayling-Ellis in 2021, left the BBC programme and rebuilt his career on Italy's Dancing with the Stars, while continuing to insist he had done nothing wrong.
The episode remains a case study in how Britain's best-loved light entertainment format collided with the post-MeToo era's expectations of workplace conduct, and how even the sparkliest of television institutions can harbour a darker backstage reality. For the BBC, the price of that lesson was measured not only in settlements and headlines, but in the trust of an audience that had believed the magic was real.