Giovanni Pernice says the 'Strictly family doesn't exist' as he opens about Amanda Abbington row which he claims left him with a heart condition

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 15:24 EDT, 15 September 2026 | Updated: 15:27 EDT, 15 September 2026 Giovanni Pernice has said the 'Strictly family doesn't exist' as he opened about his Amanda Abbington row which he claimed left him with a heart condition. The professional dancer left the hit BBC show after a bitter fallout with celebrity partner Amanda in 2023 as she accused him of 'vile abuse', prompting an enquiry from the BBC.Giovanni has since said he was left suicidal by their row, which Amanda, who received an apology and 'substantial payout', said he is 'grossly mischaracterising'.In his new memoir Gio: Taking the Lead by Giovanni Pernice, he claimed that the stress from the allegation caused him to develop an 'inflammation of the heart' from the stress. Now in a new interview, the dancer has shared the 'rivalry' between the professional dancers and insisted there is no Strictly family. He told Heat: 'I don't find that the "Strictly family" exists because we're all there for the same reason - it's a competition and everybody wants to win. 'The other pros all want to be successful. We all want to be the best and we all want to win the Glitterball. When somebody becomes more successful than someone else, it's normal that they get on their nerves, it's a rivalry. 'You will have good moments and bad moments, even though they like to say it's a family, that's not true.' Giovanni Pernice has said the ' Strictly family doesn't exist' as he opened about his Amanda Abbington row which he claimed left him with a heart conditionGiovanni also revealed that he is still in touch with the judges Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke, Motsi Mabuse and Craig Revel Horwood because their 'loyalty means a lot'. Amanda released a speedy rebuttal to new claims made by Giovanni in his new autobiography, which was released last month.While Giovanni insisted he believed his relationship with Amanda to be a good one, based on friendly banter, the actress said his treatment led to her being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).After the book was unveiled, Amanda responded saying: ‘He is grossly mischaracterising what happened to suit his own narrative but I have no interest in engaging with that. My focus is on moving forward...‘He took part in the BBC investigation that made findings against him, following which the channel paid me compensation'.She took particular umbrage when Giovanni said in his book how she had made a deeply offensive Nazi salute during a rehearsal. He said that, while he could have taken it further and complained to Strictly bosses, he didn’t.He said: ‘If somebody calls me rude names and makes rude gestures, including a Nazi salute (which Amanda did), it means our banter is at that level'.Giovanni had also presented investigators with a 28-minute audio tape of a conversation with Amanda in which she told him how she knew she was a ‘nightmare’ and that she’d ‘throw me out of the window’ if she were him.The release of his book comes after Amanda received a huge five-figure out-of-court settlement and a contribution to her legal fees from BBC Studios. The dancer left the hit BBC show after a bitter fallout with celebrity partner Amanda (pictured) in 2023 as she accused him of 'vile abuse', prompting an enquiry from the BBCThe settlement has reportedly been made in a bid to prevent a lengthy court battle and allowing Amanda – who was subsequently diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – to put her ordeal behind her.Following an investigation by the BBC, Giovanni was cleared of the most serious accusations made against him and the BBC issued a formal apology to Amanda.The report found that some of the language used by Giovanni towards Amanda could be 'belittling' and agreed with the Mr Selfridge actress that his feedback was, at times, 'overly negative' and that he had used profanity during rehearsals.The report noted after reviewing several hours of rehearsal footage as part of an official investigation that there were two moments of 'inappropriate behaviour of sexual banter in the workplace', which were found to simply have been 'made and received as jokes' between the pair.