THE parents of Strictly star Giovanni Pernice insist he was “just doing his job” — amid claims that dance partner Amanda Abbington quit over training bust-ups.
His mum Rosalda and dad Piero believe the promising pair could have gone on to win the glitterball trophy.
They defended Giovanni, 33, after Sherlock actress Amanda quit the BBC show for “personal reasons”.
It followed reports that they were clashing over the pro dancer’s “militant” approach to training.
Speaking at their family home on the Italian island of Sicily, Piero, 66, said: “We are surprised by the fact she left the show, because everything was going OK — we thought they could have won.
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“It all seemed OK for them before she quit the show.
“My son is a really nice, polite and respectful boy.
“He always had good results with different partners and he has never had problems with them.
“We’d never heard anyone saying negative things about Giovanni.”
Piero, who is a police officer, added: “The only thing Giovanni thought was, sometimes Amanda was tired during training.
“In my opinion, sometimes you have to push a person to get to their best, but sometimes that isn’t what one person needs.
“I can just talk about Giovanni as a person. I’m surprised such a good partnership has ended.”
Fiercely proud mum Rosalda, 62, smiled as she showed us Giovanni’s Strictly glitterball trophy — which he bagged after winning the competition for the first time in 2021 with actress Rose Ayling-Ellis, 28.
She said: “Giovanni has always had good relationships with all the other partners, like Rose.
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“Giovanni is an excellent person.
“He is really loved by the English people.”
Rosalda added: “They have to train tough hours to get some results. Giovanni has just done what he had to do. He was just doing his job.”
Mum-of-two Amanda, 51, pulled out of last Saturday’s show on medical grounds.
Her exit from the show was confirmed on Strictly spin-off It Takes Two on Monday — as the competition entered its sixth week.
On Tuesday, Amanda said in a statement she had quit Strictly for “personal reasons” — but made no mention of Giovanni.
She wrote online: “It is with deepest regret that I had to leave Strictly.
“It was an absolute joy working with my fellow contestants, they are a beautiful, hardworking and talented group of people who I love and who I will miss seeing every Friday and Saturday and competing alongside.
“I want to thank the incredible production team and everyone on Strictly who looked after me and who are so kind and caring. It’s a wonderful bunch of people and I’ll miss all of them.”
Giovanni, though, paid tribute to Amanda, sharing a sweet snap of them in pyjamas and saying: “Amanda . . . I am so sad we can’t continue but I am proud of what we achieved and I am sending you so much love.”
Amanda’s exit came after insiders claimed the two clashed over their intense training schedule.
She was said to have found Giovanni’s “aggressive training style and attitude pretty difficult”.
A friend of Giovanni says “Any suggestion that a formal complaint was lodged against Giovanni’s teaching with the show is false, as is any suggestion that duty of care was in question.
“And Amanda was very open with Giovanni over medical concerns prior to quitting the show.”
Despite reports of friction, the two formed a strong dance partnership and scored 31 points in their last live performance together.
Claudia Winkleman told Amanda Abbington “we are sending you all our love” during last night’s show.
