Giovanni Pernice to 'appear on Strictly Come Dancing 20th anniversary special'

Following a BBC investigation, the corporation issued an apology to Abbington, with BBC News reporting that complaints of verbal bullying and harassment were upheld by the investigation, although claims of physical aggression and threatening behaviour were not.

The Mail on Sunday now writes that the dancer, who left the BBC series ahead of the current season, will be featured in a documentary marking the show's 20th year milestone to air in December.

The report makes reference to Pernice's historic pairing with actor Rose Ayling-Ellis, the first deaf contestant to take part in Strictly Come Dancing, which ultimately saw them lift the Glitterball trophy.

Of particular note was their dance to Clean Bandit and Zara Larsson's Symphony, which featured a silent segment paying tribute to the deaf community, that was voted 2022's Memorable Moment at the BAFTA TV Awards.

RadioTimes.com understands that the Strictly Come Dancing anniversary documentary will feature recognisable faces from the show's history and its current roster of talent, but it has not yet been officially confirmed whether Pernice will be one of them.

After the investigation into Abbington's claims concluded, the Sherlock star issued a statement saying: "Despite this vile abuse, I've never regretted coming forward, and today's apology from the BBC is a vindication of my complaint.

"It's not just a vindication for me, it's a vindication for the other people who have contacted me since I made my complaint to express concerns about their own experiences on Strictly Come Dancing.

"I hope those who have felt unable to speak out now will be more confident that they will be listened to and believed. The BBC has invited me to meet with senior management and this is something I will now be considering. This apology means a great deal to me. So too does the fact that the BBC have acknowledged the steps that were put in place to support and protect me and past contestants were ‘not enough’.

"What matters most now is that lessons have been learned and that the BBC makes the changes they’ve promised, to ensure others don’t experience the same ordeal that I and others like me did."

In a video posted to social media, Pernice said: "Seven months of reading everyday things in the newspaper and not be able to respond because I wanted to keep the confidentiality and privacy of the review, was a difficult time. It was difficult because, you know, reading stuff that were untrue, wasn't the nicest time of my life, let's be honest.

"But today I'm happy because, you know, at the beginning there were very, very serious allegations thrown out at me but as in today, none of the serious allegations have been upheld. All the threatening, abusive, harassment behaviour allegations have not been upheld."

On its current duty of care measures, the BBC also said: "The BBC and BBC Studios takes duty of care extremely seriously. We want Strictly to be a positive experience for everyone involved. That is why our welfare and support processes on Strictly are kept under constant review and updated each year.

"In July we introduced new measures for training and rehearsals, which are in place for this year’s show. These included a production team member present during training room rehearsals at all times; two new roles on the show dedicated to welfare support – a Celebrity Welfare Producer and a Professional Dancer Welfare Producer (both started work in August); and additional training for the professional dancers, production team and crew.

"In addition we introduced 15 training room observers in place for rehearsals. They complete daily training logs – including covering breaks, warm-ups and rest periods."

Strictly Come Dancing airs Saturdays and Sundays on BBC One and iPlayer.

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