When Amanda ­Abbington appeared on Newsnight last week, she said that her former Strictly partner Giovanni Pernice called her names.

In fact, she said her time on the BBC show was an ‘ongoing litany of being verbally abused’ by the Italian star.

But the Mail can now reveal that Ms Abbington called Pernice a string of swear words – and was even deemed to have been the one to start the coarse ­language by the BBC probe.

The Sherlock actress, 52, was also ruled to have been the only one of the pair to have used the ‘c-word’ in the hours of rehearsal footage seen by investigators in the inquiry.
Corporation sources can reveal that, during their written exchanges on WhatsApp, Ms Abbington referred to the Sicilian dancer as a ‘k***head,’ a ‘d***face’ and a ‘t**t’ – despite her complaining that he was abusive to her.

A source close to Pernice said: ‘Amanda has continued to go out there and say how awful Giovanni has been to her yet she was saying things like this to him.

‘She used swear words a lot, yet she has gone on the telly to say how awful things have been for her and how she had to go home and process all of ­Giovanni’s swearing.

‘It is all very, very rich of Amanda to have said this, now we know the truth. It’s notable that she has chosen not to share this part of the report while going on television and giving interviews to sling mud at Giovanni.’

The review also found that, according to the evidence seen by the BBC panel, the use of the derogatory terms and expletives was commonplace between the pair.

It added that they used ‘very coarse language’ and – in relation to the ‘use of crude and sexualised language’ – they were both provided with constructive feedback to consider their ‘use of language and humour’.

Far from just warning Pernice, 34, of his conduct, it also said that ­evidence showed ‘regular ­swearing, dark humour and jokes of a sexualised nature’ on both of their parts.

In fact, it went as far as to say that witnesses were made to feel ‘uncomfortable’ by both of them.

It can also be revealed that the review panel rejected her claim that she managed Pernice’s behaviour by ‘adopting a similar tone and language’ to that used by him. Investigators ruled that the evidence does not support this – and as a result they refused to accept it.

‘Both Amanda and Giovanni used language freely,’ said a BBC source. ‘Amanda did too and she didn’t need to be prompted by Gio at all.

‘Amanda has done two interviews now where she has spoken about how hard of a time she got from Giovanni, how he was horrid to her. Because of this investigation Gio is no longer on the ­television in the UK, he is now in Italy and it really didn’t have to be like that.’

Last Wednesday Ms Abbington told Newsnight host Victoria ­Derbyshire that Pernice used sexual innuendo and sexual gestures during her time working with him. However she failed to mention her own sweary habits or name calling.

She said: ‘There was a 35-­minute rant at me with him throwing his hands in the air and calling me names and how he couldn’t cope with it any more. When I got a dance step right he would outline his erection in his trousers and tell me my dance move made that happen, because I got it right. The other sexual allegation was verbal. They weren’t isolated one-off incidents.’

Describing the past 12 months as ‘one of the worst years of my life’, she added that ‘so many’ women have thanked her for making the complaint.

While the BBC report did uphold the ­allegation that Pernice gestured towards his groin when Ms Abbington did something well and said words along the lines of ‘look what you made me do’, it found that there was ­insufficient ­evidence to find that he had an ­erection at the time.

Ms Abbington spoke of her ­torment further last weekend, telling The Sun on Sunday that she had quit the show after finding lumps on her breast. But she claimed that having a cancer scare was a ‘healthier option’ than being in the training room with her partner on the contest.

She said: ‘By my final week, on the Thursday morning, I was in the shower and I found two lumps. I’d got the all-clear after a mammogram a couple of months before.’

She revealed she told Pernice she was going to hospital, adding: ‘It was the catalyst I’d sort of been waiting for, which is terrible. But that’s what I was thinking, that it was a healthier option than being in that room [the training room].’

The lumps were later found to be benign.

During that interview, there was also no mention of her own use of coarse language.

Last week the BBC upheld six out of 17 of the complaints made by Ms Abbington about Pernice. As a result, the Corporation apologised to her and thanked her for coming forward to complain.

The review judged that Pernice had used ‘belittling’ language towards her.

The six-month long investigation, which cost the licence fee payer upwards of £250,000, also found that on another occasion he said: ‘I’m tired of it, if you want to look s*** I don’t care.’

Ms Abbington’s complaint that Pernice would get frustrated with her while teaching her to dance was also upheld by the panel. These included comments such as: ‘You have such talent and you’re not using it.’

Another time he told her: ‘I don’t know how to ask you any more’. A further comment, when he said ‘it has been four days now and I don’t know what to do’, was also deemed to be wrongful behaviour.

In another outburst, Pernice said ‘f*****’ as he threw his arms in the air while teaching her how to do a routine.

The allegation that the Italian ballroom star had given negative feedback was also upheld, with Pernice told that he didn’t adapt enough to Ms Abbington’s needs.

Of the two complaints which were upheld of a sexual nature, one saw Mr Pernice grab his crotch and utter a lewd remark.

He also told his dance partner that he ‘wanted to f***’ her’ after Ms Abbington pulled off a move in the training studio.’

Pernice is now appearing on the Italian version of Strictly, Ballando Con Le Stelle where he was top of the leader board on Saturday with his celebrity partner, actress Bianca Guaccero.

As the row threatens to rage on, a friend of Pernice reflected: ‘What is Strictly’s loss is Italy’s gain.’