Laura Whitmore issues second statement accusing BBC bosses of 'gaslighting' her over Giovanni Pernice claims
Laura Whitmore has issued a second statement regarding the ongoing Giovanni Pernice claims
BBC/PA
Strictly Come Dancing star Laura Whitmore, 39, recently confirmed she had spoken to the show about Giovanni Pernice's, 33, "inappropriate behaviour" during her time with him after claiming she initially raised her concerns with the BBC six years ago.
Whitmore was rumoured to be the second person to come out about her experience with the Italian dancer after Amanda Abbington, 50 initially sparked the BBC's ongoing investigation into his conduct.
She recently took to her Instagram account to post a lengthy statement regarding her silence up to that point and said: "I feel there is a lot of misinformation in the press and I want to help and show support by setting the record straight.
"I initially raised concerns back in 2016. I thought my experience was specific to me but I've since learned I was wrong."
She has since issued a new dramatic statement to shed more light on her Strictly experience and told The Irish Post she believes that the industry has changed for women.
Whitmore said of the ongoing Strictly scandal: "The stuff I'm not going to talk to you about now because it's under review, that's all coming out now, was the stuff I tried to speak about eight years ago."
Laura Whitmore and Giovanni Pernice were paired together on the show in 2016
BBC
When asked if she wasn't "listened to" when she first raised her complaints, she shared: "Or [I was] gaslit to make it seem normalised. It's a shame that it has to come out in such a victim-shaming way, which it always does.
"And being the first person to speak up about anything is always hard."
Although she hasn't made a formal complaint, Whitmore is hopeful to get "just an acceptance" of what happened to her in the rehearsal room.
GB News has contacted the BBC and Whitmore's representatives for a comment.
Abbington recently sat down with former Strictly co-star and Channel 4 News presenter Krishnan Guru-Murphy to discuss some of the ongoing investigations and alluded to an incident of a "sexual nature".
Laura Whitmore claimed the BBC gaslit her over her initial Giovanni Pernice claims
PA
She added that Pernice is the one who was blocking 50 hours worth of footage being seen through his lawyers, noting how "telling" the move from the 33-year-old was.
Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood recently weighed in on the ongoing scandal of the BBC show, admitting he's "watched" the "Amanda tape" and added he was "blown away" by what he saw.
With just weeks to go until the 20th-anniversary series, Revel Horwood said: "I knew nothing, the judges are very separate when it came out in the press, I was shocked along with all the other judges.
"We have nothing to do whatsoever with their training or how they get there at that point on a Saturday night - we don't see the camera rehearsals on the Friday, so we literally come in on the Saturday, judge what we see for that one minute 30 and it's done."
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Amanda Abbington kicked off the BBC investigation into Giovanni Pernice
BBC
He continued to This Morning hosts Josie Gibson and Craig Doyle: "I just want the investigation to be over so I can find out myself the truth - because I have nothing really to say.
"You know, it's really hard to pass judgement or comment on, 'he said this, she said that,' you know? It's really difficult and it has erupted. And of course, I've watched the Amanda tape and all of that sort of stuff and I've just been blown away by the whole situation."
When asked whether he was "surprised and shocked," about the allegations, he added: "Yeah, completely and utterly shocked by the whole situation."
Pernice, 33, has continued to deny the accusations of "abusive" behaviour towards the former Sherlock star but has stepped away from Strictly.