Entertainment
Giovanni Pernice denies using ‘slur’ against colleague with epilepsy-Alistair McGeorge-Entertainment – Metro
The Strictly Come Dancing star has responded to the allegation.
Giovanni Pernice has denied allegations of using a slur against a colleague (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Giovanni Pernice has fired back after being accused of using a slur against a colleague with epilepsy.
The BBC recently concluded its investigation into the former Strictly Come Dancing professional’s conduct after allegations made by Amanda Abbington, as they apologised to her and upheld some complaints while clearing him against the most serious ‘physical aggression’ claims.
Pernice has since faced accusations from a colleague who worked with him on his Made In Italy live tour last year who claims the 34-year-old star called him a ‘s*****c’.
‘We cannot speculate as to this individual’s agenda, but the allegation is upsetting as they had such a positive friendship during the tour,’ a spokeswoman for Pernice told Metro.co.uk.
‘The fact that it surfaced on the day of the publication of the BBC report suggests that this is a direct attempt to damage Giovanni’s reputation. We regard this conduct as a concerted smear campaign directed at Giovanni.’
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The complaint was dismissed by the BBC, who told the man that the concerns relate to the star’s ‘conduct outside of his engagement’ with the broadcaster.
The former Strictly star has been accused of using a slur by a former colleague on his Made In Italy tour (Picture: Shutterstock)
‘This is therefore not a matter we would be able to look into,’ they added.
The complainant told The Sun that he felt he had ‘similar allegations’ to those raised about the former Strictly pro’s conduct on the Latin and ballroom show.
‘I felt Giovanni thought what he said was funny,’ he explained. ‘My allegation added weight to Amanda’s. It’s disappointing they didn’t want to listen.’
Meanwhile, Strictly Theatre Company’s tour manager Gary Alce admitted he was ‘surprised’ by the allegation’, saying that there is always ‘a lot of hard work and a fair bit of friendly banter’ between the crew.
Pernice’s spokeswoman said he was ‘upset’ by the allegation (Picture: Ian West/PA Wire)
He said in a statement to Metro.co.uk: ‘I was surprised to hear about this allegation. When you are on a long theatre tour like Made in Italy, everyone becomes very close. We work together every day to ensure the show is a success every night.
‘Everyone in our industry will know that there is a lot of hard work, and a fair bit of friendly banter, especially amongst the crew. The person making these allegations was absolutely part of that.
‘In fact, they shared a very close relationship with Giovanni. The pair of them were often laughing and joking around for everyone to see, calling each other names, but nothing ever crossed the line.
‘The person who is making these allegations suffered very badly from epilepsy which we were unaware of when we hired him. This stopped them being able to do the primary job they were hired for due to very serious safety concerns.
The latest claim was made amid the investigation into Amanda Abbington’s allegations against Pernice (Picture: Guy Levy/BBC)
‘Giovanni went out of his way to ensure that this person continued to work with us, both on the Made in Italy Tour, as well as his future tours. When the tour ended, we offered this person another job on one of our tours, and would have been delighted to have them back with us.’
In his response to the BBC probe’s result, Pernice had said in an Instagram post he was ‘happy’ he had been cleared of the serious allegations after a ‘difficult’ few months.
‘Today is a day when we can all reflect because, I appreciate that dancing is a very difficult thing to do,’ he said.
‘It’s a sport, it’s something that is difficult in every possible way and sometimes you get frustrated, as a teacher, as a dancer, as a performer. But the only reason why you get frustrated is because you care about what you do.’
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