Amanda Abbington’s fiancé has launched a scathing attack against Giovanni Pernice’s claims he will be cleared by the Strictly Come Dancing inquiry – vowing ‘the truth will come out.’
Former stuntman and escapologist Jonathan Goodwin spoke out after the actress broke down in tears while describing the Italian dancer’s alleged ‘bullying’ and ‘toxic’ behaviour.
Opening-up on TV for the first time, Abbington, 50, said she received death and rape threats after going public with her so-called ‘snowflake’ complaints and described being paired with Pernice as being like ‘fighting in the trenches’.
And Goodwin, 44, told today: ‘If you watch the dances she did, tell me that’s a person that’s not putting in 100 per cent effort. So it’s not about that.
‘What happened is she left a game show because she didn’t like the way she was being treated and that’s it. That’s what she did.
‘How she was treated – and she’s said this herself – was not great in ways that I can’t go into. But it’s not about strict or militant training.
‘It’s other stuff and I can’t talk about it, but it will all come up. The truth will come out.’
In his first interview, Goodwin, 44, described his partner as ‘vulnerable’ as he called for reform of the TV industry.
Asked if producers could have done more to protect the well-being of contestants, he said: ‘100 per cent, without a doubt. ‘I’ve worked in television for the best part of 25 years, so I know how it works.
‘I’ve produced television shows myself and seen pretty horrendous things and decision making.
‘What happens in television generally is that there is a ‘we have to get the shot and wrap at a certain time’ and that’s the most important thing, culture.
‘And people will do stupid things. They will ride roughshod over basic common sense just to get the outcome that is required.
‘I think there is a general lack of care giving in both film and television around that issue.’
Last night, actress Abbington sat down with Channel 4’s Krishnan Guru-Murthy, who also appeared on Strictly last year, to discuss the fallout caused by her complaints.
She said: ‘It’s been brutal and relentless and unforgiving. The aftermath has been something that I wasn’t expecting – the death threats and rape threats towards not only myself but to my daughter.
‘And threats of death to my son. And Giovanni fans. When you get one or two of those you can go, ‘Oh God,’ you know.
‘But I was getting dozens a day on social media from people saying, ‘Just go and kill yourself, I hope you die of cancer, I hope – just kill yourself, your kids will be better off without you as a mother.
‘I hope your daughter gets raped, I hope your son gets stabbed. You don’t deserve any good things for what you’ve done.
‘How could you destroy something like Strictly. You’re a snowflake and an idiot, you’re stupid. Poor Giovanni. It was just all the time.’
Explaining that she cannot go into detail about her complaints while the BBC is still gathering evidence from witnesses, she said one issue raised was the sexual humiliation she felt along with being ‘attacked.’
Claiming the BBC is refusing to release crucial evidence to her lawyer, she added: ‘There is 50 hours of footage that is being blocked. You know, 50 hours is a lot of footage and a lot of time spent in a room that is toxic.
‘In the first week I raised my concerns to the producers.
‘Giovanni said he asked for the cameras, he didn’t ask for the cameras.
‘And I know he didn’t ask for the cameras because the producers came to me and said, ‘We’re going to put in cameras so we can view the footage at the end of the week and make an assessment and see what is going on.’
‘And every Friday after that for the next five weeks I would get the producers saying, ‘We just watched the footage back, we are shocked and horrified, we are so sorry.’
Goodwin, who lives with Abbington in the home they share with four dogs in Hertfordshire, reveals they had to push back their wedding plans to next summer because of the fall-out.
The couple got engaged in 2021 just half an hour after first meeting, and he said: ‘Amanda is a strong person who is emotionally quite vulnerable. She’s been called all sorts of horrendous things – unstable and all this nonsense that is utterly untrue.
‘She is the most level-headed person that I’ve ever met.
‘She is a person that stands up for herself and for other people when she sees things that are not being dealt with correctly.
‘The reality is that nobody knows. Amanda has said almost nothing about this case. So all the stuff that has been put out there is literally nothing she said.’
Goodwin was left paraplegic when an escape act on America’s Got Talent – the US version of Britain’s Got Talent – went catastrophically wrong in October 2021 just five weeks after he proposed.
He broke both legs and shoulders and was left with third degree burns, a punctured lung and severely damaged liver and kidney, as well as a complete spinal injury.
He had been suspended upside down from a crane when a safety tether failed to release, which led to two burning cars laced with explosives crashing into him.
He plummeted 30ft to the ground and hit the floor having been pushed off course from the airbag.
Goodwin says he had no problems competing on Britain’s Got Talent in 2019 and he enjoyed the experience.
Yet, despite working as a stuntman and escapologist for more than 20 years, he felt badly let down by the AGT team.
Like his partner, he cannot talk in detail about what happened as it’s part of an ongoing legal case in the US.
However, he has gone on to carve out a new career as a screenwriter and an online hypnotherapist with his Project Rewire company.
Abbington has remained by his side despite an American doctor relaying the bad news he would never walk again, which led to Goodwin insisting she move on and meet someone else.
Sources close to Giovanni, 33, who denies any wrongdoing, insist he will be exonerated by the end of the three-month probe.
But Goodwin is confident in the strength of his partner’s case.
He said: ‘Every day is different. Some days the news headlines are to do with what I’m dealing with and other days it will be to do with what Amanda is dealing with.
‘It’s a bit like a game of stress table tennis, but I think we are making progress.’
On why he proposed to Abbington after such a short time, the father-of-one added: ‘We had spoken for about five to seven hours every day for a month (before then) and I’m not a normal person.
‘Not only did Amanda tick all my boxes but also, there were things I never hoped we would have an affinity with.
‘It was an immediate thing. I knew implicitly, this was my person.
‘The wedding will be next summer, but we don’t have a date yet. We are both obviously going through some stuff and we have both agreed let’s finish that and then we can pick a day. That’s where we are at.’
He added: ‘It felt very written. Even now it doesn’t feel real, it feels like some sort of kismet.
‘We’re so wonderful. We make each other laugh every day and it’s great.
‘If you can go through the times that Amanda and I have been through lately and still giggle – and that part is OK – it makes a lot of unpleasant things far more liveable.
‘It’s not beer and skittles for anyone at the minute so if you are lucky enough to have someone that you can share things with, then it is a problem more than halved.’
In a separate interview on ITV’s Lorraine this morning, Abbington spoke about their wedding plans, saying: “Next year. Hopefully this won’t drag on until next year, hopefully.
‘But next year we’re looking to get married and we’re going to have a really big weekend extravaganza with our friends and family.’
Talking about Goodwin, she added: ‘He’s amazing – everything that he’s been through, and he still manages to be confident and funny and everything about him is an inspiration.
‘He’s my hero really, he’s by my side all the time, he’s my number one fan and I’m his. He’s a joy. I’m very lucky.”