Strictly's Giovanni Pernice and Amanda Abbington break silence after claims the actress 'threatened to quit due to his "aggressive" training style'

September 23, 2023

Strictly Come Dancing’s Giovanni Pernice and Amanda Abbington have broken their silence following claims the actress threatened to quit the show due to clashes.

The professional dancer, 33, and the actress, 49, have both shared gushing Instagram tributes to each other ahead of the first Strictly live show on Saturday.

It follows claims that Amanda was ‘left shaken’ by Giovanni’s ‘militant and aggressive’ training style with tensions escalating between the pair.

However, the dance partners have seemingly batted away the rumours as they have praised each other on their respective Instagram pages in sweet posts.

Amanda took to her Instagram Stories to share a snap of her beaming in rehearsals and gushed over ‘hugely talented’ Giovanni in an accompanying caption.

Brushing it off: Strictly Come Dancing’s Giovanni Pernice (pictured on Thursday) and Amanda Abbington have broken their silence following claims the actress threatened to quit the show

Clashes: It has been claimed that Amanda (pictured on Tuesday) was ‘left shaken’ by Giovanni’s ‘militant and aggressive’ training style with tensions escalating between the pair

Sweet: But Amanda brushed off rumours as she shared a snap of her in rehearsals and gushed over ‘talented’ Giovanni, while he responded with an equally positive post

She penned: ‘The smile you give your pro partner at the end of the camera rehearsal when you know you are in safe and hugely talented hands. Giovanni Pernice ya legend, see you all tomorrow.’

Giovanni then shared her post to his own Instagram Stories and admitted that he was ‘extremely proud’ of his dance partner as they proved they have a strong bond.

‘I usually don’t say these things early (as probably everybody knows) but I’m extremely proud of you and I can’t wait for people to watch what we have created,’ he wrote.

Amanda also shared a video of herself discussing her busy week ahead of the first Strictly live show as she teased what fans can expect on Saturday night.

In the clip, she once again gushed over Giovanni and praised his skills as a choreographer as she seemingly brushed off any rumours of tension.

She said: ‘I love our dance, I love it, it’s a beautiful thing, He’s an incredible choreographer Giovanni, he’s amazing and he’s created something really beautiful, so we’re both very pleased.’

It comes after it was claimed that Amanda threatened to quit Strictly before the first live show due to clashes with her dance partner Giovanni.

According to The Sun, the duo were at loggerheads, with Amanda wanting to quit hours before taking to the iconic BBC dance floor for the first time.

Strong bond: Amanda also shared a video of herself discussing her busy week ahead of the first Strictly live show and once again gushed over Giovanni’s skills as a choreographer

Partners: The professional dancer, 33, and the actress, 49, have both shared gushing Instagram tributes to each other ahead of the first Strictly live show on Saturday

A source told the publication: ‘Giovanni is a hard taskmaster and takes the competition very, very seriously.’

They went on to brand his style of teaching as ‘Incredibly brusque’ which can sometimes ‘upset his partners’.

‘Amanda was really looking forward to dancing with him, but has found his aggressive training style and attitude pretty difficult to handle,’ they added.

‘He is quite militant in his approach to training. She’s been left very shaken, and has liaised with her team about quitting.’

Giovanni and Amanda are set to take to the dance floor for the first time on Saturday along with their fellow celebrity pairings as the 2023 Strictly series gets underway.

Laura Whitmore, 38, previously revealed she felt ‘extremely uncomfortable’ being partnered with the Italian hunk on the BBC ballroom competition in 2016.

The Irish host left the competition in week seven feeling ‘broken’ and admitting she ‘cried every day’.

The Irish presenter wasn’t happy about being paired with her close friend Georgia May Foote’s ex not long after the pair had split – and felt ‘extremely uncomfortable’ dancing with him.

Throwback: Laura Whitmore, 38, previously revealed she felt ‘uncomfortable’ being partnered with the Italian hunk on the BBC ballroom competition in 2016 (pictured together)

Dancing Queen: This year, Angela Rippon, 78, will make history as she becomes the show’s oldest ever contestant with her cha cha (pictured with partner Kai Widdrington)

Former Coronation Street actress Georgia – who had fallen for Giovanni when they were paired together on Strictly in 2015, only to split the following summer – was still feeling heartbroken at the time and Laura inadvertently found herself ‘in the middle of someone’s break-up’.

Writing for The Huffington Post, Laura said: ‘I love dancing – I topped the leaderboard twice – but I was thrown into the middle of a break-up that had nothing to do with me. Once again, I was a “rumoured love interest”.

‘I was placed with a dance partner I was extremely uncomfortable with – and in the end I felt broken, I cried every day. And I really was broken, both mentally and physically, by the end.’

Strictly Come Dancing fans have been given their first glimpse of the first live show, as the twelve couples’ songs and dances have been revealed, with Amanda and Giovanni set to dance a classic Viennese Waltz to Pointless by Lewis Capaldi.

And making history is Angela Rippon, 78, who becomes the show’s oldest ever contestant when she takes to the floor on Saturday.

The former newsreader will be performing a Cha Cha to Dame Shirley Bassey’s cover of Pink’s Get The Party Started with pro partner Kai Widdrington.

Meanwhile actor Layton Williams, who fans have already tipped to raise the glittery trophy, will show off his skills with a Samba.

Skills: Meanwhile actor Layton Williams, who fans have already tipped to raise the glittery trophy, will show off his skills with a Samba (pictured with partner Nikita Kuzmin)

Viewers of last week’s launch took to Twitter to predict the Bad Education star would make history by becoming the show’s first ever winning same-sex pairing alongside pro Nikita Kuzmin.

This was despite the series facing a ‘fix’ row after fans claimed the actor had an unfair advance following his West End appearances and Stage School training.

Angela’s song choice was a huge hit for Goldfinger songstress Dame Shirley, 86, who released the cover after first performing it on stage in 2007.

Meanwhile Layton and Nikita will dance to Little Mix’s catchy pop tune Touch.

Former Love Island star Zara McDermott will also perform a lively Cha Cha to 90s hit Crush by Jennifer Page.

She previously revealed rehearsals had left her ‘bleeding’ after partner Graziano Di Prima made her wear uncomfortable ‘men’s shoes’ to practice ahead of their first live perfomance.

Dancing shoes: Former Love Island star Zara McDermott and Graziano Di Prima will also perform a lively Cha Cha to 90s hit Cush by Jennifer Page – after rehearsals left her feet ‘bleeding’

Fun: Bobby Brazier and Diane Buswell (L) will dance a classic Foxtrot to All About You by McFly while Nigel Harman and Katya Jones (R) will be starting their Strictly journey with a Paso Doble to Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana.

Lets go! Meanwhile Jody Cundy and Jowita Przystał will be hitting the floor with a Quickstep to I’m On Top Of The World by Bobby Darin

Glitz: Angela Scanlan and Carlos Gu will be dancing adding some spice to proceedings with a Tango to Prisoner by Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa

Bobby Brazier and Diane Buswell are hoping to impress as they dance a classic Foxtrot to All About You by McFly.

Nigel Harman and Katya Jones will also be starting their Strictly journey in the ballroom, with a Paso Doble to Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana.

Meanwhile Jody Cundy and Jowita Przystał will be hitting the floor with a Quickstep to I’m On Top Of The World by Bobby Darin.

Angela Scanlan and Carlos Gu will be dancing adding some spice to proceedings with a Tango to Prisoner by Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa.

Challenge: Also dancing a Cha Cha are Krishnan Gutu-Murthy and Lauren Oakley (L) to Boom Shack A Lack by Apache Indian and Annabel Croft while Johannes Radebe (R) will performing their own to Billy Joel’s Uptown Girl

Come on! They will be going head to head with former soap star Adam Thomas and his partner Luba Mushtuk who’s Cha Cha is set to Waffle House by the Jonas Brothers

Perfomance: Nikita Kanda and Gorka Marquez will take to the floor for a classic Waltz to Run To You by Whitney Houston

Shwotime! and Eddie Kadi and Karen Hauer will speed things up with Quickstep to Two Hearts by Phil Collins

Strutting their stuff: Les Dennis and Nancy Xu (L) hope to impress with their Tango set to Human League’s Don’t You Want Me while Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola will dance a Jive to Can’t Tame Her by Zara Larsson (R)

Also dancing a Cha Cha are Krishnan Gutu-Murthy and Lauren Oakley to Boom Shack A Lack by Apache Indian and Annabel Croft while Johannes Radebe will performing their own to Billy Joel’s Uptown Girl

They will be going head to head with former soap star Adam Thomas and his partner Luba Mushtuk who’s Cha Cha is set to Waffle House by the Jonas Brothers.

Nikita Kanda and Gorka Marquez will take to the floor for a classic Waltz to Run To You by Whitney Houston and Eddie Kadi and Karen Hauer will speed things up with Quickstep to Two Hearts by Phil Collins.

Les Dennis and Nancy Xu hope to impress with their Tango set to Human League’s Don’t You Want Me while Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola will dance a Jive to Can’t Tame Her by Zara Larsson.