Actress Amanda Abbington is preparing for a return to television drama while her former Strictly Come Dancing partner Giovanni Pernice prepares to publish his candid autobiography. The 54-year-old actress recently signed roles in two upcoming series, almost two years after a BBC review into her complaints resulted in Pernice leaving the BBC dance show.
Abbington signed up for Strictly Come Dancing three years ago in 2023, aiming to revive her career and become a household name. She had previously starred in popular television dramas such as Sherlock and Mr Selfridge.
Following her departure from Strictly, Abbington took on smaller roles, including a stint in the play (This is not a) Happy Room at the Kings Head Theatre in north London in 2025. Her new roles include playing the second lead in the Channel 4 drama Hunting Alice Bell and appearing in the next series of the Apple TV series Down Cemetery Road.
In May, Abbington's fiance Jonathan Goodwin settled a legal claim against the makers of America's Got Talent for an undisclosed multi-million pound payout. The 46-year-old former stuntman and escapologist was left paralysed and nearly died after a rehearsal accident in 2021 for America's Got Talent: Extreme, where he was crushed between two burning cars. Goodwin launched legal action against production company Fremantle and broadcaster NBCU in 2023.
Autobiography and Strictly Fallout
Pernice will release his autobiography, titled Gio: Taking the Lead, in a few weeks. The 35-year-old dancer wrote the book after deciding last year to share his side of the dispute that ended his nine-year career on Strictly Come Dancing.
A source close to Pernice said the dancer blames Abbington for ending his Strictly career, and viewers share that view. The source stated that Pernice will not hold back in the book, which will detail what Abbington did to him and explain why he believed he had grounds to complain about her.
Sources said Pernice will also address why BBC bosses failed to vet Abbington with enough rigour before the 2023 series. The dancer believes that proper vetting would have prevented the scandal from developing.
The 400-page book will detail the fallout that began three weeks into the 2023 Strictly Come Dancing series. Sicilian-born Pernice was initially excited to dance with Abbington after sharing a short dance with her at the show's speed dancing event, where he praised her talent and determination to win.
Rehearsal Disputes and BBC Findings
Abbington stated that she first raised concerns about Pernice's behaviour with Strictly producers on her third day of rehearsals. She dropped out of the competition in week six, citing health issues following a breast cancer scare for which she later received the all-clear.
Abbington subsequently lodged a formal complaint against Pernice, alleging verbal bullying, harassment, and inappropriate sexual behaviour, and claiming he stamped on her foot, causing bruising. "I couldn't sit back and let him do that to other people," Abbington said in a 2024 interview.
Pernice denied all allegations but stood down from the next series during the review. He submitted a 28-minute audio recording of a rehearsal conversation to investigators, which his team said showed he was supportive.
In the recording, Abbington told Pernice that if she were him, she "would have thrown me out of the window by now," acknowledged that she self-sabotages, and described herself as a "nightmare." Following a six-month investigation, the BBC upheld six of Abbington's 17 complaints, finding evidence of name-calling, a hostile environment, and sexual innuendo, while clearing Pernice of physical aggression.
Future Projects and Show Return
Following the investigation, Pernice called the process the hardest time of his life before returning to Italy to join Ballando con le Stelle, the Italian version of Strictly. Pernice won the series alongside Italian actress Bianca Guaccero, whom he later began dating.
During a three-hour interview in Italy after the BBC investigation, Pernice said he maintained his innocence and was devastated by the distress caused to his family in Sicily. Strictly Come Dancing returns next month with new presenters Emma Willis, Johannes Radebe, and Josh Widdicombe, who replace Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly.
Pernice reflected on his career in the preamble to his autobiography, writing: "At 33, after a lifetime of striving to be the best dancer I could be, I was a man at the top of his game. Fresh from lifting the glitterball and winning a BAFTA, I was living my wildest dreams. This is a story of how quickly it can fall apart, and how, when it felt like everything was against me, I fought to find a way back and take the lead in my own life once more."
