Laura Whitmore had never made any public comments about Giovanni Pernice’s training technique – but this afternoon she made a candid comment to “set the record straight”.
Giovanni Pernice is accused of “inappropriate” behavior by Amanda Abbington but believes his secretly recorded footage, including her apology, will clear him.
However, now Laura Whitmore – who partnered him on Strictly Come Dancing in 2016 just weeks after his romance with his 2015 partner Georgia May Foote ended – has come forward with her own comment.
She has clarified that she “raised concerns” about him at the time and has not made an official complaint, but is helping with enquiries.
The former Love Island host and model took to Instagram this afternoon to reveal she had been “trying not to comment on recent press speculation until the BBC review is complete”.
However, after becoming alarmed and fearing “misinformation”, she decided she wanted “to help and show support by setting the record straight”.
“I was asked to speak to the BBC along with six people that I know of (who deserve anonymity as they don’t want to be dragged through the press), about inappropriate behaviour they experienced similar to mine with the same individual,” she wrote, adding that she “initially raised concerns back in 2016”. She stated: “I thought my experience was specific to me but I’ve since learned I was wrong.”
“The aim of this is to show a pattern of behaviour that I believe needs to stop. My evidence is to support other people’s experience,” she wrote. “It’s a shame it takes this for someone to be heard. I am not looking for anything, just an acceptance that what happened to me in the rehearsal rooms during my time on BBC Strictly was wrong and that it won’t happen to anyone else again.”
Laura clarified: “Because I have not made an official complaint, and am providing evidence of my experience to support the investigation, not all the communication will be passed on to all parties involved.”
Saying that her goal in speaking out on social media was to “set the record straight” on “misinformation”, she added: “Victim blaming must stop or we will never get better.
“I’ve tried to speak up in the correct way. I know the BBC and all outlets continue to do their best to be better, but for that to happen we must speak up.”
Giovanni has vehemently denied all allegations of wrongdoing and says he is confident that the evidence he is presenting will exonerate him.
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Source: New York Post