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Craig Revel Horwood reveals he’s ‘still friends’ with Giovanni Pernice after Strictly Come Dancing scandal
Judge said show’s professional dancers ‘are not psychologists’ and contestants need to feel ‘challenged’
Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood has revealed that he is still friends with Giovanni Pernice after the professional dancer was axed from the show.
Pernice, 34, was dropped from the BBC dance competition last year after his former celebrity dance partner Amanda Abbington claimed that she had faced a “toxic environment” and “inappropriate, mean, nasty bullying” during her time on the show in 2023.
After a nine month investigation, the BBC announced that they had “upheld some, but not all, of the complaints made”. Complaints of verbal bullying and harassment were upheld, but claims of physical aggression were not.
The BBC issued an apology to Abbington, while Pernice, who had denied any wrongdoing, said he was “glad” and “relieved that the allegations that I was threatening and abusive were found not to be true”.
Revel Horwood, who has been a judge on the BBC show since it started in 2004, spoke about his friendship with his former colleague in an interview with The i, and suggested that the show’s pro dancers “are not psychologists”.
“I am still friends with Giovanni,” he told the paper. “One complaint against him was that he trod on a toe. Well, I’m sorry but that is going to happen. In dance training I’ve dropped girls and broken their ribs accidentally. I’ve broken fingers doing lifts.”
The choreographer said that he was “all up for people making complaints if the situation is abusive”, but suggested that celebrity contestants on the show need to acknowledge that they “are being challenged to do something they have not been trained to do”.
“Every contestant has to be taught in a different way depending on the mental state they’re in at the time,” he added. “The professional dancers are not psychologists. They can’t always work out what is going on.”
“Everybody is different, but sometimes it takes an argument for somebody to do it right. Then you say: ‘Now we’ve got fire! Now we’ve got passion! Hold that tension in your muscles! Now we can tango, darling!”
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After receiving an apology from the BBC last year, Sherlock star Abbington described the result as “a vindication of my complaint” and said that she had “never regretted coming forward” despite receiving death threats.
The Strictly scandal also saw fellow dancer Graziano di Prima leave the show, having admitted to kicking celebrity dance partner Zara McDermott during a rehearsal.
During the 2024 season of the show, celebrity contestants and their dance partners were accompanied by chaperones during rehearsals.
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