Strictly Come Dancing: Giovanni Pernice 'quits show' following fallout with Amanda Abbington

A Strictly Come Dancing star has quit the show - after being criticised for being a tough taskmaster.

The Sun has reported that Giovanni Pernice has let slip that he will walk away from the BBC Saturday evening juggernaut, and that he would like to appear on other shows.

Last autumn he was paired with actress Amanda Abbington. But the partnership went sour as she says she was reduced to tears several times, and ended up walking out. She later said she had been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder because of her experiences and vowed never to take part in reality TV again after receiving death and rape threats.

The Sun quoted a source as saying: “Gio feels the scrutiny on him has become too much, and now is the time to make a fresh start.

“He wants to focus on other TV projects, and feels he’s achieved all he can on Strictly, having won the trophy back in 2021 and reaching the final an unprecedented four times. He remains adamant he’s done nothing wrong other than being a hard taskmaster, but knows his style of training isn’t to everyone’s liking — especially in this day and age.

“He has a lot of other exciting projects in the pipeline right now, and he’s just super-excited to get cracking on them. This, now, is his priority.”