Dancing On Ice star Alex Murphy shares support for Strictly's Giovanni Pernice amid feud with Amanda Abbington

Dancing On Ice star Alex Murphy has shared her support for Giovanni Pernice amid his ongoing feud with Amanda Abbington.

The 51-year-old actress has claimed the show has left her with post-traumatic stress disorder and has reportedly demanded recordings of their rehearsals to be reviewed.

Amanda has reportedly sought legal advice about the dancer's alleged behavior towards her and believes video footage may 'support' her claims.

But now Alex, who left the ITV skating competition in June 2020, has sympathized with the professional dancer as she opened up about what it takes to mentor a celebrity.

Speak with GB News she said: 'I think what's happening – obviously I'm a professional, I think Giovanni is great. I'll be standing next to the pros as a professional and you'll say, 'He's doing his best.'

Alex, who won the show in January 2020 with partner Joe Swash, discussed what it's like working with different personalities and understanding that even though it's a competition, it's a TV show first and foremost.

She explained: 'It's very difficult because you have to judge each person as an individual. So every time you want to think to yourself, “This is a dancing competition”, or “This is an ice skating competition”. It's not, it's a TV show. And as professionals we must not forget that.'

Alex continued: 'The difficult thing is that every person is different. Every time I came in, I had to have a completely different teaching structure.”

The skating professional pointed out that the main difference between Strictly and Dancing On Ice is that the professionals on the BBC dance show remain the same year after year, while on Dancing On Ice they change more regularly.

Alex strictly praised this format and made it clear that having the same professionals means that they learn that it is a TV show and that the audience can also get to know and love the professional dancers.

Alex explained that depending on who you work with, sometimes you know from the start that you're not going to win, so you have to reassess your goals as a couple.

Amanda leave the BBC One mid-series series last year mentioned 'personal issues', with reports of a clash between the pair.

It's been reported that it took her months to recover from her Strictly stint and it's believed she needed therapy due to the 'behaviour she was exposed to'.

It is also claimed that Amanda allegedly requested rehearsal footage to highlight the Italian's 'tense' and 'complete' training methods, which reportedly caused her a lot of distress and PTSD.

Referring to reports that BBC bosses are continuing to monitor Giovanni amid the allegations, Alex agreed that she is thrilled that the team is backing him.

According to The sunbosses arranged a phone call between Giovanni's management and Strictly executives, where they offered him their full support and checked his mental health.

It is believed Giovanni has been assured his place on the show is safe.

A source said: 'It's no secret that Gio and Amanda had a difficult relationship, but there are two sides to every story.

'Bosses arranged a phone call between his management and show managers to discuss the recent reporting and make sure everything was OK as he has clearly been dealing with a lot of problems in recent months.

'The feeling is that he is a tough teacher, but has not bullied or abused anyone. The BBC sees him as an important face of Strictly and will do everything we can to support him.”

Giovanni has also received support from his fellow Strictly co-stars Anton Du Beke and Motsi Mabuse.

Anton and Motsi, who are both on the Strictly judging panel, have shown their support for Giovanni by liking his recent Instagram post about his new fragrance VITA.

The dancer may have been referring to the drama with his former Strictly partner Amanda in the cryptic message he wrote alongside the ad.

He wrote: 'My fragrance VITA (Italian for life) is exactly that: a celebration of life. Of positivity when there is clearly so much around us that can be a cause for the opposite.

“We start this journey with high expectations and ambitions, and with many more products in the pipeline.”

It comes after Giovanni thanked fans for their support amid reports of tensions between him and Amanda.

The star spoke out about the claims as he shared a post on Instagram thanking his fans for their kind words of support.

He wrote: 'A week today we open 'LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU'. We're working hard, but it's going to be epic.

“I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who sent messages of support over the past week. I really appreciate it very much. Thank you, thank you, thank you Gio.'

The dancer was inundated with kind messages, with one user writing: 'I think you're amazing and well done, stay strong and positive.'

Another wrote: 'I love you Gio, you're a professional dancer for God's sake, it's your job. Don't notice.'

Giovanni's former partner Debbie McGee has also supported the star.

Magician's assistant Debbie, 65, who was Giovannni's celebrity partner on the show in 2017, shared a throwback photo of the pair on Monday, insisting they got on well while working together. Debbie captioned the post: 'Happy memories, Giovanni and I had the best times on Strictly.'

The sparkling star Giovanni took to the comments section of the Instagram post to express his gratitude, writing: 'I love you… thank you'