'The whole family is behind him': Sister of under-fire Strictly star Giovanni ... trends now
The sister of Giovanni Pernice has come to his defence as the under-fire Strictly star faces a probe by the BBC into allegations of 'serious misconduct'.
The Italian has faced claims from three of his former dance partners on the show that he bullied and mistreated them, although he strenuously denies any wrongdoing, writing on social media: 'I reject any suggestion of abusive or threatening behaviour and I look forward to clearing my name.'
Among those making the allegations is Amanda Abbington, who dramatically quit Strictly early in 2023 citing 'personal reasons' and is reportedly demanding access to CCTV footage of their training sessions together as part of her claim.
Previous partners have also spoken out in the past about his methods - Laura Whitmore claimed she 'cried every day' while training with him and Ranvir Singh said she had a 'total meltdown' during rehearsals with him.
The BBC has launched an investigation into the claims against the Sicily-born dancer, who sources say is a 'perfectionist' and can be 'incredibly full-on'.
The sister of Giovanni Pernice has come to the defence of the embattled Strictly star. Pictured: Giovanni with his mother, father and sister
It comes after allegations of 'serious misconduct' about the Italian dancing star from three of his previous partners on the show. Pictured: Giovanni dances with Amanda Abbington on Strictly in October 2023
The ballroom star has strenuously denied any wrongdoing after the BBC launched a probe into the allegations. Pictured: Giovanni dances with Amanda Abbington on Strictly in September 2023
Previous dance partners have spoken about their difficult experiences with the dancer, including Love Island host Laura Whitmore. Pictured: Giovanni dancing with Laura Whitmore in 2016
Now his sister Angela has come to his defence, insisting her brother will 'always have our support' and that his entire family is '100 per cent behind him and nothing with change that'.
Speaking from Palermo, where he is originally from, his sister Angela told MailOnline: 'Giovanni will always have our support, he is family and there's nothing else to say.
'The whole family is behind him, mum, dad, me and everyone else, whatever he says is the truth and we support him with all our strength.
'We are 100 per cent behind him and nothing will change that.'
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Despite living half way across Europe from the rest of his family and leaving home at the age of just 14 to pursue his dreams of becoming a dancer, Giovanni has remained incredibly close with them.
The ballroom star, who left Strictly less than a month ago, watched with pride as Angela walked down the aisle for her wedding in Sicily last June and hugged her on the dancefloor at the reception afterwards.
She touchingly wrote afterwards of Giovanni: 'That pain in the a**e has become a man - a wonderful man. I love you my little brother. You are my life.'
Last month the whole family flew over from Italy to watch Giovanni in his Let Me Entertain You show and posed outside the sold out London Palladium - a show of support for their 'golden boy' as he faced claims he mistreated dance partners.
His parents have only spoken once publicly about his troubles - but have said the dancer 'was just doing his job' following his partner Amanda Abbington's shock departure from Strictly.
Piero said: 'We are surprised by the fact she left the show, because everything was going ok - we thought they could have won.'
He added: '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.
Gio hugs his sister and parents on Angela's wedding day in Italy last year. Angela says her brother has been a pain - but is her 'world'
Giovanni, pictured in around 2012, came to the UK in 2015 barely speaking English and needed an earpiece with a translator to help him through his first shows because of the language barrier
Giovanni dancing in Italy before he moved to the UK for Strictly
He has found love and support from new girlfriend Molly Brown (pictured together)
Giovanni's mum Rosalda explained: '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.'
A family friend said their view is that Gio has high standards and told MailOnline: 'They are the typical Italian family and stick together through thick and thin, they are his biggest fans and they will not have a bad word said about him.
'They watched his show when he won and were in tears and they are often over in London visiting or Giovanni gets back to Palermo as often as he can.'
Giovanni has found love and support from his new girlfriend Molly Brown. They were pictured together on holiday in Madeira this month.
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'The plan is for his girlfriend Molly to come over [to Sicily] soon', the family friend said.
After receiving the call from the BBC in 2015 asking him to join Strictly Come Dancing, he had arrived in London from Italy with barely a word of English and very few pounds in his pocket.
Giovanni needed an earpiece throughout his first series of Strictly so an Italian speaker could translate for him.
But it didn't hold him back and he managed to get to the final with partner Georgia May Foote, losing out to Jay McGuiness and Aliona Vilani who won the competition.
Three more finals have followed including a famous win with Rose Ayling-Ellis, whose success
