The BBC “Evidence Gathering” After Complaints Against ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ Star Giovanni Pernice

deadline.com:

It has been a rollercoaster week for the BBC’s biggest entertainment show, Strictly Come Dancing. The TV competition, which celebrated its 20th anniversary with a BAFTA award last weekend for Best Entertainment Show, is reported to be examining “serious complaints” made against one of its highest-profile dance professionals, who has this week quit the show.

The Times of London quotes a city law film who has told UK media that the BBC is now “evidence gathering” after allegations made against Giovanni Pernice, who has been with the show for over a decade and won it in 2021 with his partner, deaf actress Rose Ayling-Ellis.

And The Sun newspaper reports that actress Amanda Abbington, who was partnered with Pernice last year but left the show after a few weeks citing medical reasons, is one of the complainants, along with two unnamed others.

Strictly Come Dancing is the BBC’s biggest entertainment show, and the original idea behind dozens of international versions, called Dancing With the Stars in most countries.