Giovanni Pernice's 'bullying' investigation will 'not end until next year' as stars support axed pro amid ban

His axing comes after Amanda Abbington and three other former partners of the 33-year-old claimed they were mistreated during their time with Pernice, enlisting the help of law firm Carter Ruck.

Pernice has continued to deny the claims and released several statements, insisting he was adamant to "clear my name" whilst vehemently denying the claims which have been made against him - blasting the untrue stories and hiring help from London law firm Schillings.

Many of the BBC cast members have not spoken on the matter, with it also recently being reported there has been a ban imposed which stops them from discussing the matter - something Dianne Buswell and Vito Coppola awkwardly attempted to do recently.

It has now been claimed that five stars have given formal interviews to two former Met detectives in charge of the probe, with a source claiming that the investigation would not end for a while.

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According to The Sun, a source claimed: "Those involved have been told the probe could well drag on into next year. Of course, the last thing the BBC needs is the findings to be released in the middle of this series.

The BBC said in a statement to The Mirror last week: "We recently issued a statement urging people not to indulge in speculation about complaints related to a high-profile show.

"As we made clear, anyone involved in a complaint has a right to both confidentiality and fair process. While we don’t comment on specifics, what The Sun is asserting contains substantive inaccuracies."

GB News has contacted the BBC for a comment.

Abbington dropped out of the series after just five weeks and claimed that Pernice's "militant" training techniques left her with PTSD, with the Sherlock star going on to claim he was a "nasty" person.

It was recently reported that the 33-year-old blocked the release of his and Abbington's training tapes, with a source telling the Sun on Sunday: "It raises the question, ‘What has he got to hide? It doesn’t look good."

Despite the so-called "ban" on Pernice's Strictly co-stars discussing the ongoing allegations, many have ignored the instruction and gone on to show their support, including Karen Hauer, Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse, Kai Widdrington, Lauren Oakley and Debbie McGee.

Whilst promoting her new book Murder on the Dancefloor, Ballas told The Mirror: "I know he is a hard worker. I don't condone bullying on any path but also I don't believe gossip and what you read in the newspapers because things get escalated and they are blown way out of proportion and it can turn into a great big snowball.

"So my feeling for Giovanni is, let them do this investigation or whatever it is they are doing and the truth will come out. So we don’t judge anybody until we know absolutely 100 per cent. I won’t pass on the gossip unless I know 100 per cent it is true.

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"I have never ever, ever experienced any ill will or bad feeling or bad sportsmanship or rudeness from him. He will be missed."

Pernice's former partner and winner Rose Ayling-Ellis spoke out early on during the allegations and penned that she "believes" some of what has been alleged, with Abbington telling social media users to "leave me alone" in a statement on Instagram.

Expert Darren Stanton recently told GB News that he thought Abbington "feared" Pernice and said: "She flashed some fear responses, not because she was afraid in that moment, but she'd broken that rapport with him or that level of connection that they once had was gone.

"And once the genie is out of the bottle, you can't really put it back in there."