Giovanni said he’d like a cup of tea with Amanda and a reconciliation meeting

AMANDA Abbington has hit back at Giovanni Pernice after he returned to British television this morning and called their relationship “perfect”.

The actress, 50, lodged a series of complaints against the Italian professional and quit after just six weeks on the show amid claims of bullying in rehearsals.

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Amanda Abbington has hit out at Giovanni Pernice after his return to British television

Giovanni insisted things had been ‘perfect’ between him and Amanda prior to her Strictly exitCredit: Rex

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Giovanni insisted he is not a bully when he appeared on the Lorraine show todayCredit: Rex
The BBC upheld six of the 17 complaints and apologised publicly to Amanda, though Giovanni was cleared of the more serious allegations.

Today he appeared on Lorraine and insisted that while his methods are strict, he wouldn’t change them.

He also called Amanda a “brilliant” dancer and said he’d like to have a cup of tea with her to iron out their issues.

But in an exclusive statement to The Sun, Amanda’s team said: “Mr Pernice’s claim that ‘everything in the rehearsal room worked perfectly’ is false and delusional, and underlines the toxic culture Ms Abbington endured on Strictly Come Dancing.

“The BBC’s own investigation concluded that Mr Pernice was in breach of multiple BBC Policies, including repeated breaches of the Anti-Bullying and Harassment Policy. Mr Pernice was spoken to by the BBC on several occasions about his misconduct – but his behaviour only continued.

“At no time did Ms Abbington regard his verbal abuse or inappropriate behaviour as banter. This is precisely the kind of gaslighting behaviour which victims of bullying and harassment often have to endure: it’s these people Ms Abbington will continue to speak up for.

“Ms Abbington remains concerned about the way the inquiry into her complaint was handled by the BBC, and the leaking of the investigation Report to the press, and will be meeting with the Corporation in due course to raise these in more detail.”

Giovanni’s appearance on Lorraine comes as he competes in the Italian version of Strictly with actress Bianca Guaccero.

He has been consistently topping the leaderboard in his homeland and keeping his British fans updated on Instagram.

Today he told host Christine Lampard how he believed Amanda had what it took to win the Glitterball.

He said: “When you have somebody in your hands, like Amanda, she was brilliant and unbelievable at dancing.

“I’m upset because we could have made it all the way to the final. My job is to take everything out of my partner. It’s in the public domain, the fact I’m a strict teacher. If you want to achieve greatness, I think this is the right way to do.”

He denied ever clashing with the actress in the rehearsal room, despite her claims he made offensive comments towards her.

“The investigation didn’t find me a bully,” he said. “Bully is a big word, there’s a big difference between bullying and caring about what you do.

“All I had was ‘Giovanni you’re an amazing teacher, Giovanni you’re great’.”

He continued : “At that time everything was perfect, me and Amanda Abbington never had an argument.”

He reflected on his career successes, including lifting the Glitterball with Rose Ayling-Ellis and his current leaderboard-topping run on the Italian version of the show, to justify his methods.

He said: “Teaching the way I teach is the successful way to approach this.”

He added: “If you come to the room with me and go, ‘you really want to win this’, I will do everything in my power to win this.

“If you suddenly change this and don’t tell me that, there’s nothing I can do. I don’t read minds.

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Amanda broke down in tears during an interview with Channel 4 in JulyCredit: PA
“I’m very, very competitive. I will make sure I will do everything to get out the best of you.”

Giovanni refused to answer if he still has a future on Strictly, instead responding that he was busy with his work in Italy and his upcoming theatre tour.

He decided to quit Strictly in May after nine years on the BBC dancing show.

It came as he faced allegations over his training methods with his former celebrity partners, including Amanda.

The BBC published the findings of its five-month investigation into the alleged scandal, and Giovanni was cleared of 11 of the 17 allegations made against him.

It did, however, find instances of the professional dancer using “belittling” language towards her.