Giovanni Pernice said that Strictly Come Dancing is a ‘tough’ job and he’s a ‘perfectionist’ amid his rumoured feud with Amanda Abbington.

The Strictly professional dancer, 33, and the Sherlock actress, 51, were partnered in the latest series of the dancing show, but weeks after the competition ended rumours began to whir about a behind-the-scenes clash between the pair.

Amanda quit Strictly after missing their week five performance due to ‘medical reasons’, claiming the exit was down to ‘personal reasons’.

But in her farewell message – in which she described working with fellow contestants an ‘absolute joy’ and dubbed the production team ‘incredible’ – she did not mention her partner Giovanni.

Now, Giovanni has spoken out about the recent headlines while talking to Alex Jones on The One Show this evening.

When asked about what kind of Strictly teacher he is, Giovanni replied: ‘I’m definitely a perfectionist, like every other competitor I like to win.’

He continued: ‘But for me its all about getting the best out of my partner, especially if I see there is talent there. I want to do my job properly.’

‘I think like everyone, you train your life to be the best, and when you’re on Strictly you’ve only got one week,’ he said, waving towards Alex and pointing out she would know, having been on the show before.

‘You would have cried if you’d got me, you would have been like, “Well, what’s the point?”‘ she joked.

The professional dancer continued: ‘The point is, you’ve got four days to create a new dance, to put it to music, to try to teach the technique, plus all the other interviews you have to do in the week.

He concluded: ‘It’s a tough job to do for sure.’

It was claimed Giovanni was ‘annoyed’ following Amanda’s exit from the dancing show, as it was reported he only heard about it from a BBC producer hours before the news broke to the world.

At the time, Metro.co.uk contacted Giovanni’s representatives, who said: ‘This story is nonsense.’

The One Show airs weeknights at 7pm on BBC One.

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‘I’m a perfectionist.’