Strictly's Shirley Ballas defends 'true gentleman' Giovanni Pernice and says things are 'blown out of proportion' after his shock exit from BBC show amid workplace 'misconduct' probe

Shirley Ballas has defended fellow Strictly Come Dancing star Giovanni Pernice, calling him a 'perfect gentleman'. Shirley Ballas has defended fellow Strictly Come Dancing star Giovanni Pernice, calling him a 'perfect gentleman' Head judge Shirley, 63, has hailed Giovanni, 33, saying they socialise outside of work and she has only had positive experiences with him For weeks executives have been investigating claims that Giovanni, who recently lost his spot on the show, behaved 'abrasively' to his celebrity partner, Amanda Abbington 'I don't condone bullying on any path. Strictly head judge Shirley said: 'My feeling for Giovanni is, let them do this investigation or whatever it is they are doing and the truth will come out' Despite the furore, head judge Shirley has stood by the under-fire pro and will join him in hosting a number of dance classes in London next month alongside Anton Du Beke Giovanni returned to social media for the first time on Thursday after the BBC confirmed he would not be returning to the show It comes after the Daily Mail revealed BBC bosses are 'furious' that leaks of confidential details of the probe have been made public. The organisation is reportedly scouring nine years of footage from Strictly professional Giovanni's training sessions, as the explosive show scandal continues to rumble on Three women, including actress Amanda Abbington, have hired £700-an-hour lawyers at leading London law firm Carter Ruck to pursue claims against Giovanni and the BBC Ms Abbington reportedly met up with Laura Whitmore and Good Morning Britain presenter Ranvir Singh – also former partners of Pernice – to discuss his so-called bad behaviour.