Both can claim a victory...

Insider on Strictly bully row review | BBC sorry to Amanda. Gio: It's trivial

- TOM BRYANT

GIOVANNI Pernice and Amanda Abbington last night both claimed victory in the Strictly bullying claims probe.

But with the review into allegations by the actress against the pro dancer now out, it appears there are no real winners.

The BBC apologised to Amanda after it “upheld some, but not all” of her complaints about the Italian during their time on the show. In all, six from 17 were upheld.

But we can reveal that while Giovanni’s camp insisted those six had been “trivial”, Amanda, 50, disagreed and said they vindicated her decision to speak out.

Among the upheld complaints were claims of “isolated incidents where Giovanni swore or threw his hands in the air”.

The review said “he was swearing and using what could be described as belittling language”.

This amounted to bullying behaviour, it added.

Another complaint upheld was that Giovanni, 34, was using “too much negative feedback”.

One told how he grabbed his crotch and uttered a lewd remark, and also told his dance partner that he “wanted to f*** her”.

But a source close to Giovanni claimed: “This was all done in jest and perceived in this way by Amanda. They were intended as jokes and compliments of her dancing style. Her language could be just as coarse back.”