Strictly contestants Giovanni Pernice and Amanda Abbington have addressed claims they’re not getting on, admitting it’s “difficult”.
It was previously reported that the BBC show was in chaos after Amanda threatened to quit due to her partner’s “aggressive behaviour” during training. But now they’ve set the rumours straight.
Speaking to host Janette Manrara on Strictly: It Takes Two, Amanda said Giovanni is a “good teacher”. “He’s really disciplined and he tells me like it is, and I need that because I found out that I’m actually quite lazy,” the actress explained.
After Janette asked: “You’re getting along like a house on fire in rehearsals, right?” Amanda said they “laugh a lot” and “have the same sense of humour”. She added: “We’re having a great time.”
Giovanni Pernice admits it’s been ‘difficult’
Giovanni then added: “We do have a good time. But at the same time it’s a difficult process. Especially for people who have never done Strictly before. I always say it’s a marathon not a sprint. The first few weeks, it is difficult. It’s a lot of hours to train, it’s a lot of hours you have to concentrate.”
However, he admitted that performing on a Saturday evening is “so rewarding”.
Ahead of Strictly’s first live show on Saturday (September 23), The Sun reported that Amanda was allegedly unhappy with Giovanni’s “militant” attitude to training.
A source alleged to the publication: “Giovanni is a hard taskmaster and takes the competition very, very seriously. Sometimes his manner is incredibly brusque and this can upset his partners. Amanda was really looking forward to dancing with him, but has found his aggressive training style and attitude pretty difficult to handle.
“He is quite militant in his approach to training. She’s been left very shaken, and has liaised with her team about quitting. It has become far more stressful than she ever imagined and at the moment things between them are incredibly tense.”
At the time, Amanda took to Instagram in an expletive-filled rant to shut down the reports.
“Ignoring the [bleep] because clearly people are [bleep]s,” she said. “Just stop it, stop it, grow up. No one gives a [bleep]. Shut up, it’s [bleep], so [bleep] off.”
Read more: Giovanni Pernice fans fuming amid backlash over his Strictly partnership with Amanda Abbington
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