Giovanni Pernice has opened up about "a year of difficulty" following allegations levelled at him by former Strictly Come Dancing partner Amanda Abbington.
The actress pulled out of the show just several weeks into last year's series, subsequently complaining to the BBC about Pernice's strict training methods - also alleging verbal abuse and bullying behaviour.
Pernice then quit the show after nine years as the BBC carried out a formal investigation, which concluded earlier this month by upholding six of Abbington's 17 complaints, specifically relating to verbal remarks, but also found that Pernice was not abusive, did not make threats and was not intimidating or physically aggressive towards her.
Talking on Lorraine last week, the Italian said: "It's been difficult to read every day in the newspaper things that were simply not true and not be able to talk because both of us, both of the parties really were asked to maintain the confidentiality of the process.
"I wanted to keep professional [and] finally the results are out and I'm able to talk about what happened... and put the record straight when it comes [to] my side of the story."
He continued: "I'm relieved [about] the fact that the most serious allegations were thrown out. Yes, six [have] been upheld but 11 haven't been upheld and again, the most serious were not."
Pernice went on to admit that he did used to get "frustrated" with his celebrity partners but only for the sake of trying to improve their performances.
"You know how difficult it is to learn a new dance each week. Dancing is difficult. Dancing it's a new thing," he said. "So, I get frustrated, the celebrity gets frustrated, and trust me when I say every single person on Strictly Come Dancing or Dancing with the Stars, in the world would get frustrated because you feel the pressure.
"You want to perform perfectly on the Saturday night. So, frustration is something that when you want to be good, it happens."
He added: "It's actually in the public domain that I'm a strict teacher, I recognise that myself. I've been on the show for nine years, which means you know exactly who Giovanni is and the way he teaches. So, in that time if you want to achieve greatness, I think this is the right way to do it."
Speaking after the report was published, Abbington described it as a "vindication" of her decision to complain, adding that she hoped it would now "ensure others don't experience the same ordeal that I and others like me did".
Neil Wilkes
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