Giovani refers to Amanda Abingdon as mad

[Blackcats7]

The bbc has reported that on stage in Manchester today Giovani said "let's see what this mad woman says next" and then promised to be back to cheers from his audience.
He did not actually say Amanda's name but it is clear who he meant.
If her accusations are proven (which seems likely given other women coming forward) then presumably he has just opened himself up to a claim for defamation.

Goodness, Strictly seems to be imploding doesn’t it. I agree that Amanda Abingdon is really brave to have spoken up.

Right, if there was any doubt as to whether he's abusive, he's just confirmed it with a comment straight from the Abusive Man's handbook 😅 Abusive and very, very stupid. Oh dear.

Amanda isn't looking like the crazy one in this situation is she?

I’m considering this as well tbh.

Of course a few people ( men , mostly ) might nod along with Giovani and say it's just her. She is ' mad' or how everyone is a ' snowflake ' these days or what did they expect and so on. I know a few people who might think this. 🙄
It doesn't make it right , of course , but you'd be surprised at the support he might get from certain quarters which is probably why others didn't speak out at the time for fear of being labelled difficult or fragile :(

Yes, true.

I'll continue watching. They've done the right thing by getting rid of the abusive ones and saying they'll bring in chaperones.

Didn't i hear on the radio that he kicked her to get the best out of her? Unbelievable. It would be OK to kick a racing horse or a racing dog but a woman? Why not

Anton on life stories just comes across as a total narc. I thought that put him in really bad light. I was trying to get to grips with his self love humour but he didn't seem very humble.

Christ, really? It was painful when Brucie was in the final years, he was clearly not with it and his attempts at jokes were excruciating.

I've really enjoyed it since then - Tess and Claudia make a good team and it's a fun show to watch as winter creeps in. My only gripe is when they have almost professional dancers who can't make much progression (like Danny Mac or Layton Williams) because it's boring to watch.

My assumption is that some of the pros have been teaching as they were taught - which is not ok, is clearly abusive, and highlights known problems in children's professional training worldwide (I know it's an issue in gymnastics and ballet too).

ETA - I'm not excusing Giovanni or anyone else at all - they've clearly behaved behaved disgustingly. Also not overly surprised the two main accusations are against Italian men, tbh.

Describing someone as "this madwoman" is not a good look but it isn't defamation.

I thought the kick was Graziano?

The whole Strictly thing should have been wound down years ago. Well past its sell by date and done to death. If it had finished on a high and remembered fondly, it would have been so much better than imploding into the sordid and tainted mess that it’s become. The BBC will just have to get their arses into gear find something less lazy to churn out every autumn schedule.

Pernice was wrong to make the comment but it was inevitable after Abington made hers. She was right to report him and he should without doubt face the consequences and lose his role on the show, but she made it into a public issue so now he has too.

So ironic when you look back on his dance with Rose Ayling-Ellis and the strength of emotion and sentimentality at the time.

That's the usual behaviour for male abusers: calling the women they abuse 'mad/crazy/hysterical/too sensitive'...

He is not doing himself any favours.

I initially thought the whole saga was about some celebs expecting an easy ride when joining the show and being a bit diva-ish when they realised it was actually hard, daily work but now I believe them.

Good on these women for speaking out.

What a thing to say. He seemingly has a woman issue. It’s odd he can’t maintain a relationship for more than a few months. Also odd how he blatantly comments how wonderful he is all the time. It looks like he has some personality problem

No way will it be cancelled. It's a big money spinner for the BBC. It used to be fun but it's far too false and saccharine now.

Amanda is very brave. She has been ripped apart for speaking out. Even on here .
i hope they don’t cancel it. There will be plenty of the pros that have not been abusive to continue.
will be interesting to see if anton is dumped

Bbc programmes don’t make money. They get funded by licence payers and the government. They are meant to provide quality educational, entertaining programmes so viewing figures only show popularity.

I agree.
It will be interesting to see if Anton is dumped. I personally think a zero tolerance approach should be taken and he needs the boot too.

It was reported that a Paralympic athlete has been left with permanent injuries after participating in SCD I don’t watch it myself, but all these stories coming out are appalling Strictly left Paralympian with injuries he'll 'never get over' https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy08gz5xz3do

The BBC sells programmes/ formats to other countries and makes money from doing so.

God what a mess. There's also another problem the show is facing. Apparently Kai and Nadia have split up ( apologies if spelling is wrong ) and they can barely stand to be in the same room as each other! Don't know how they're gonna handle this...

i am surprised they havent need chaperones before now in their training sessions.
for everyone's sakes

I think that she was brave to quit and brave to speak up.

She struck me as someone who was focussed and wanted to do well. I enjoyed her dances and thought she may have been a contender for the final. It came as a bit of a surprise when she walked away.

Not a surprise now of course.

Many said on here she should have expected it to be hard work/super intense.

I expect she did.

No-one expects abusive though.

Zara seems like such a gentle soul and it was also upsetting to read what happened there.

Anton’s comments were a disgrace.

It should be hard work but magical, a bucket list/dream, a fabulous joyful experience.

I’m glad they are taking reports of negative experiences seriously.

I would be sorry if it goes - but I doubt that will happen. It has to change though - back to how it was. No fakeness, no concentrating on issues/nans, no sob stories or plugging, no professional dancers.

Just dancing.

The BBC would have at least some credibility left if it made the decision now to end Strictly.

If they go ahead with it, you can imagine someone in the audience, or maybe more than one person, disrupting the show as a form of protest. And as long as it was peaceful, I think many people would support that.

And accusations against a female dancer too.

Maybe the dance regime required to be so good in such a short time frame, isn't working for anyone.