Strictly’s bullying investigation delayed after Jermaine Jenas BBC sacking as channel goes from ‘one disaster to the next’

The BBC’s investigation into Strictly Come Dancing has been affected by the scandal surrounding former presenter Jermaine Jenas, Ny Breaking understands.

The Corporation was expected to release the results of its investigation into Amanda Abbington’s allegations this week.

The former Sherlock actress left the show and later filed a series of complaints about dance partner Giovanni Pernice.

Now a source close to the investigation says the BBC is unlikely to make its findings public until next week.

The investigation is now expected to last until next month.

The insider said: ‘The BBC is in a perfect storm at the moment. It’s one disaster after another.

‘They were dealing with Huw Edwards and now the Jermaine Jenas scandal comes out of nowhere.

‘They are very aware that they have to make the findings of the Strictly Come Dancing investigation public and that all eyes are on them.

“They know there will be a lot of criticism of whatever they say, so they have to get the timing right and make sure that any questions people have about the research can be answered.”

The Strictly scandal broke in January when actress Amanda Abbington accused her professional partner Giovanni Pernice of abuse after she unexpectedly quit the show after just five weeks.

Sherlock actress Amanda, 50, has made a series of allegations about Giovanni’s teaching methods, describing his behaviour as ‘unnecessary, insulting, cruel and vile’. He has vehemently denied all the claims.

Meanwhile, Jermaine was fired from the network this week for sending inappropriate text messages to women.

The 41-year-old presenter has said he is “ashamed” and “really sorry” after admitting he spent 24 hours “panicked” sexting a woman after she gave him her number at a work event.

Referring to the two ongoing investigations, the source added: ‘The investigation is now very much complete. There were a few final things to investigate but they are almost complete and a lot of work has been done this week.

But the BBC’s top brass are not going to rush into an announcement until the timing is right.

‘It will probably be very, very frustrating for Amanda and Giovanni, who have both been waiting for the outcome for a very long time.

‘They have both answered questions, handed over evidence and spoken to investigators at every stage, including two former MET officers, so it is understandable that they now want to know what the BBC has decided.

‘It also means the row is likely to break out right at the start of the new series, which is the last thing the producers wanted.

‘They want to try and draw a line under this and get back to the business of putting the show together. But the crisis surrounding Strictly is far from over.’

Representatives for Strictly told MailOnline that the Strictly investigation and Jermain’s sacking were ‘completely unrelated and it is incorrect to suggest that they are’.

Amanda compared the dance show to “the trenches” and told Channel 4 News that BBC producers were “appalled” by clips which allegedly included “degrading sexual behaviour”.

Furthermore, the scandal grew even bigger in July after it emerged that Graziano Di Prima had been sacked from Strictly for ‘kicking’ his partner, Love Island star Zara McDermott.

Neither Giovanni nor Graziano will return for the show’s 20th anniversary series next month as rehearsals are in full swing.

Graziano has since claimed that he does not know all the details of what he is alleged to have done.

The BBC would not provide further details due to the “confidential nature of the circumstances” under which the information was provided and its “obligations” to “third parties”.

Last week it was reported that Amanda found the BBC boss’s questioning “deeply insulting” as part of their investigation into misconduct.

It was reported that the actress was being questioned for the second time about an illegal video Giovanni shared with her, and about an “indecent comment” he made about another famous participant when the video was sent.

The dancer is also said to have made a rude comment about a member of Amanda’s family, prompting BBC bosses to ‘essentially ask’ her if the dancer had meant the remark in a light-hearted manner.

A source said The sun: ‘[Amanda] found this form of questioning very insulting.’

Regarding the alleged video, they told the publication: ‘The BBC cannot ignore the fact that the video was sent. There appears to be a trail of evidence.’

‘Even if it is established that the images were shared with innocent intent, the BBC is concerned that this could constitute a breach of conduct as set out in the contract handed to the professional dancers.’

A BBC spokesman said: ‘As we have said before, we will not comment on individuals and we will not speculate.’