Strictly Come Dancing's Anton Du Beke has declared his support for co-star Giovanni Pernice as former contestants speak out against him.
The professional dancer, 33, has been at the centre of a row regarding his behaviour on the BBC dance competition. It comes after his time was cut short during the latest series after celebrity partner Amanda Abbington quit citing medical reasons. She later claimed she was diagnosed with PTSD following her time on the show and reportedly requested backstage footage of their time together.
The actress reportedly met with Giovanni's former dance partners Ranvir Singh and Laura Whitmore to discuss their experiences of working with the dancer. New reports suggest Steps star Faye Tozer also struggled to work with him. Giovanni's future on Strictly has been put in doubt following the reports he is "too intense" to train and dance with.
However, Strictly judge Anton has backed Giovanni throughout the scandal. They fronted BBC travel show Anton and Giovanni's Adventures in Spain together, which came to an end on Monday night. Anton is continuing to stick by Giovanni as he showed his support in a social media post.
The judge said: "Hello my loves! Want to spend an evening of fun and laughter with myself and the fabulous @giovannipernice? You can buy tickets to our tour at www.antonandgiovanni.com Can’t wait to see you all there! Anton [kiss face emoji]." The duo also teased their TV show would be back on air sometime soon.
At the end of the episode, Anton said: "What a lovely, lovely way to spend the summer. Where to next?" Giovanni replied: "Well it doesn’t really matter where we’re going as long as we are together. I love you." A source had told The Sun: "Giovanni has a meeting with Strictly on Thursday about his return later this year. They have not received any official complaints and are backing him. He is an accomplished pro dancer and it’s expected he will be taking his place in the formal line-up when it’s announced later this month.” While a show spokesperson later told the publication: "The pro dancers for 2024 will be announced in due course."
Last month, both Giovanni and Anton discussed Amanda's exit for the first time to The Mirror. Speaking on our Invite Only podcast Giovanni admitted: “I am a perfectionist, 100%, but it comes from a perspective of caring. I think all of the professional dancers are in the same place. In every single part of the world, if you’re a professional dancer on one of these shows, you have to get these people looking the best they can on Saturday night.
“And if we have good scores at the end, I do look back and say, ‘I’ve done a great job’. But we all care about our partners and we want that for them every single week – to look great on a Saturday. There’s no specific way that you are, or have to be with your celebrity. You make the most of their strengths so the only thing that’s constant is the fact that you have to do a show on Saturday night.”
Anton added: “I thought you and Amanda were marvellous. I thought you were terrific. I remember a few years ago, Kelvin Fletcher came in and danced in week one, and it was amazing. As a judge, you sit there and you don’t know what it’s going to be like. And then you go, like, ‘Stone the crows, that was rather good’. And you’re a bit overwhelmed by it because normally, it takes a little bit of time. But Kelvin was terrific straight away. And I thought Amanda was the same. She was terrific straight away.”
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