Richard Madeley decided to grill Anton Du Beke on the bullying complaints made against Giovanni Pernice in an awkward moment on Monday’s Good Morning Britain.
Several people praised the Strictly Come Dancing judge on how he handled the situation, as he admitted that he’d rather speak about the actual reason why he was on the programme.
Anton was joined by TV presenter Sarah Stirk, with whom he’s hosting a new golf-focused podcast called Putt and Strut.
However, the interview on the ITV show turned to Strictly, and the manner of Giovanni’s controversial exit from the BBC dancing competition. The dancer was cleared of serious allegations regarding his behaviour, while six bullying complaints were upheld following an investigation.
Richard, 68, began by saying that he had a ‘tricky question’ to put forward, as Anton, 58, tried to lighten the mood by joking about the proper way to hold a golf club.
The Good Morning Britain host continued: ‘It’s been reported that you personally would welcome Giovanni Pernice back onto Strictly.’
As Anton’s grin faded and he took a deep breath, Richard said: ‘We know that the BBC upheld six bullying complaints against him, didn’t uphold others, but you say you would welcome him back.’
Richard finished by saying: ‘That’s sticking your head above the parapet. Why would you do that?’
‘Uh,’ Anton responded, before smiling and remarking: ‘That’s a very good question, I’d prefer to talk about the golf.’
The dancer then replied: ‘I was delighted for Giovanni this autumn because he went over to Italy and did the Strictly Come Dancing in Italy and he won with the lovely Bianca.
‘He was delighted to win that and we’re going off on tour in the summer, so I’ll be seeing him in the summer when we go back out on the road.’
Anton said that he was ‘looking forward’ to seeing Giovanni again soon, adding: ‘I love being on stage with him, and performing with him, and I’ve known him for a long time. And we’ve got a wonderful company as well. So all in all, that’s a great show.’
On X, the Strictly star received praise for the way he dealt with Richard’s line of questioning, with Stephanie writing: ‘Well done Anton! Nicely dealt with RM wanting to create a difficult conversation that didn’t need to be addressed.’
Craig added: ‘No need to put Anton on the spot like that,’ while Lakky also commented: ‘Nicely swerved the question about Gio and Strictly, Anton…’
In 2023, Giovanni competed on Strictly with Mr Selfridge star Amanda Abbington. The actress later made allegations against her pro partner’s behaviour, claiming that the way he acted in the training room was ‘inappropriate, mean, nasty’ and ‘bullying’.
Following an internal investigation conducted by the BBC, the broadcaster cleared the dancer of the most serious allegations made against him. PA News Agency understood that complaints of verbal bullying and harassment were upheld.
Speaking on Lorraine in an interview, Giovanni said: ‘I’m glad that the 11 allegations have been thrown out. At the beginning there were very serious allegations, for instance threatening her or abusing her, and all of this has been taken out.’
The BBC said in a statement: ‘We have assessed the complaints and we have upheld some, but not all, of the complaints made.
‘We want to apologise to Amanda Abbington and to thank her for coming forward and taking part. We know this would not have been an easy thing to do.’
In January this year, Giovanni said that he would ‘love’ to return to Strictly in the UK, telling the Daily Mail: ‘I would love to go back to Strictly because Strictly changed my life. It is a massive show, but I don’t think they’re going to have me back. They’re not.
‘I’m upset as well. It’s been a great, great, great 10 years. I achieved everything. But it’s not my choice, it’s not my decision.’
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV.
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