After being exonerated of most of the bullying charges in a BBC investigation, Giovanni Pernice has stated that he has no animosity against Amanda Abbington.
After telling Katie Hind of the Mail the whole tale of his relationship with Amanda Abbington, the 34-year-old former Come Dancing star made an appearance on Lorraine on Tuesday to discuss the investigation. Go here to read the interview.
Giovanni said that if he were in the same room as the 50-year-old actress right now, he would have a “nice cup of tea” with her so they could discuss their differences.
But he denied that the pair ever fought in the rehearsal room, claiming they ‘never had an argument’ and he was unaware she was uncomfortable until she made the allegations months later.
During the interview, Giovanni also hinted at the possibility of him returning to Strictly – after he left as a result of the probe.
When asked on Lorraine, which was hosted by Christine Lampard on Tuesday, if he would want to say sorry to Amanda if he was in a room with her now, Giovanni said: ‘I think we would have a nice cup of tea, we’ll have a chat and talk about what happened in that room.
‘It’s very difficult, because at that time everything was perfect.’
Giovanni added: ‘Me and Amanda never had an argument.
He continued: ‘You would come to me and say, “We’re not getting along”, then I probably will have a chat like every other relationship, we would have a chat and we talk it through and we try to make it better.
‘But realistically, me and Amanda we never had an argument. We always have discussion about steps. Yes, we did have meetings with the BBC, but we always come forward from there. I did have a meeting with the BBC with all my other partners.’
Despite being cleared of the majority of Amanda’s complaints and expressing it had been a difficult year, Giovanni went on to say that he supported Amanda speaking out if she thought something had happened, and said that anyone else should do so in that situation.