Shirley Ballas said “the truth prevails” as she reflected on her experience with former Strictly Come Dancing professional Giovanni Pernice amid allegations against his teaching methods.
Last month show bosses confirmed the Italian dancer will not return for its forthcoming 20th anniversary series following claims of abusive or threatening behaviour, which he denies.
Pernice previously said in a statement that he is co-operating fully with an ongoing BBC investigation and that he looks “forward to clearing my name”.
Appearing on the Mirror’s Invite Only podcast, Ballas said she cannot comment as to whether the allegations will affect future contestants signing up, but said Pernice has been “very good” to her in the time she has known him.
She said: “I’ve known Giovanni for 10 years, I can say that, and I can just say that he’s been very, very good to me. Very, very good to me.
“I’m not a person that believes in gossip, I tend not to believe everything I read, and I can suggest that to people because people have written things about me that are just not true…
“So I don’t believe gossip but the truth prevails, so we’ll see where it goes.
“I can only talk about the experiences I have, I don’t know other people’s experiences…
“But my mum’s always been a huge fan (of his), and he’s always been good to my family.”
Discussing whether she thinks the allegations against Pernice will affect people’s view of the show, she said: “We’ve got some of the best professionals on our show.
“And they’re caring, and they’re kind, and they’re loving, and they’re giving and they give all of themselves, because our professionals are actually quite competitive as well.
“They want the very best for their students. When we see a celebrity go off the show, you see their little face and my heart feels for them, but also the professional, they don’t want to leave.
“So I think our professionals give absolutely everything that they can to the show. And, as with everything in life, you have a choice – if you want to tune in, you tune in, if you don’t want to tune in, don’t tune in.”
On Saturday, the BBC dance competition was rocked by more changes as professional Graziano Di Prima announced he is leaving the show.
The Italian dancer said in a statement that he “deeply regrets” the events that have led to his departure and acknowledged his “intense passion and determination to win might have affected” his training regime while competing.
It comes amid reports of allegations about his conduct with a past participant on the show.
A BBC spokesman said: “We can confirm that Graziano Di Prima is no longer a part of the line-up of professional dancers for the upcoming series of Strictly Come Dancing.
“While we would never comment on individual cases, it is well-known that the BBC has established robust duty of care procedures, and if issues are raised we will always take them seriously and act swiftly as appropriate.”
Ballas also spoke about how being in the spotlight with Strictly has led to her having to deal with trolling online and be more vigilant with her security.
She said: “There was one particular person that was kind of stalking, you can say, that is under investigation at the moment, as we speak.
“I know his computer and phone, everything has been confiscated. He was taking pictures of my house, they had my house, they had my car. So, yes, there have been times when I have been fearful.”
The judge and professional dancer said the majority of people she meets are “fantastic” but there is one person who will “lunge” at her, which she finds “quite alarming”.
She added: “I always have George, the guy who’s driven me for the last five years – (he) always gets out of the car first, always scanning to look and watch.
“I wouldn’t say it’s the healthiest thing. I like to be kind of like a free bird, but we’re coming into times now where you have to be more vigilant of yourself.”
