Resurfaced video of Strictly pro’s ‘vile’ training with celebrity sparks outrage

‘Vile’ footage from a previous series of Strictly Come Dancing has resurfaced, following the recent probe into the treatment of celebrities taking part.

In recent months, both Graziano Di Prima and Giovanni Pernice have exited the BBC show, and the broadcaster has now announced that they are taking measures in order to introduce ‘practical steps’ to support welfare.

There have also been reports that there is a third ‘person of interest’ as they continue their investigation into the conduct of its stars.

As the discussion continues about the history of the series, and how it will change going forward – including the introduction of chaperones – a video from the fourth series featuring Georgina Bouzova and James Jordan has been posted on social media.

In 2006, actor Bouzova was partnered with professional dancer Jordan to compete for the Glitterball trophy, which was eventually won by Mark Ramprakash and Karen Hardy. During an episode of spin-off It Takes Two then-host Claudia Winkleman showed a compilation of the tough training, which has now been shared again on TikTok.

‘I’m a force to be reckoned with,’ Jordan, who was a part of the show from 2006-2013, stated at the start of the clip.

The pair competed in the 2006 series (Picture: PA)

The montage was shown on Strictly’s It Takes Two (Picture: BBC)

In the montage, the 46-year-old is shown throwing a chair and swearing at his partner while teaching her the routines. ‘I’ll kill you. Stand on your left leg,’ he remarked at one point.

‘I will push her to her limit. She will go through that pain, and as far as I’m concerned, tough luck. Unless she’s actually physically broken a rib, I don’t care. Unless her feet are bleeding I don’t care, if they are sore, dance through it,’ he stated to the camera.

When the former Holby City star asks James what he’d do if she made a mistake during a live show, he replied: ‘I’ll drag you across the floor then scream at you when we get off.’

They were the fourth couple to leave the competition (Picture: BBC pictures)

After a brief return to the studio, Winkleman introduced the next ‘extraordinary’ montage, which showed the pair discussing Bouzova’s weight.

‘Basically, he thinks I’m a bit of a porker,’ Bouzova, 48, said with a laugh before footage was shown of James taking sweet treats away from his partner.

‘Do I look fat?’ Bouzova asked, to which Jordan responded with a ‘No’. However, when Bouzova then enquired if she needed to ‘lose a few pounds’, he quickly interjected with an affirmative ‘yes’.

‘I want her to look her best when she goes on TV and I’m sure deep down, she wants that too,’ he said. In another moment, Jordan called Bouzova a ‘lazy cow’ and said ‘come on fat belly’ to encourage her to continue with a sit-up exercise. Bouzova later claimed that they visited a supermarket together, and Jordan only allowed her to buy pineapple and ham.

‘It’s just not the right way to work,’ Bouzova concluded.

Some of the people who watched the video described the behaviour as ‘vile’, and ‘horrible’, and James’ comments as ‘extremely harsh’.

Jordan recently asked ‘what was going on’ at Strictly right now following the reports of Pernice and Di Prima’s exits, and X user Sarah responded by saying: ‘There’s some video footage going around on social media of your training sessions with Georgina Bouzova which some could argue was abusive, it’s just back then people got away with it.’

‘It’s too bad Strictly producers weren’t as vigilant in the early days,’ wrote Sid.

Some people felt Jordan did what it took to win (Picture: BBC)

Jordan recently reacted to the news that two professional dancers had exited Strictly (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

Others have suggested that his teaching methods were to enable Bouzova to go further in the competition.

‘All the professionals are strict and bossy but they have to be in order to go far in the show,’ commented Libby Horsman7.

Shells agreed, adding: ‘It shows how many people don’t understand how much discipline it takes to be a successful dancer’ and Stephanie wrote: ‘The thing is how can they get better without tough love and working hard.’

Pernice is no longer part of Strictly (Picture: BBC/Ray Burmiston)

Pernice’s most recent partner Amanda Abbington quit Strictly after five weeks last year and claimed to have been left with PTSD. She has since called Giovanni ‘tough’, ‘nasty’ and ‘brutal’, and it’s been reported more of his former partners also had issues with his training methods.

He ‘rejects any suggestion of abusive or threatening behaviour’, adding: ‘I look forward to clearing my name.’

Shortly after, it was claimed that Di Prima ‘kicked and hit’ Zara McDermott. Di Prima said he ‘deeply regrets the actions’ that led to his departure from Strictly.

‘My intense passion and determination to win might have affected my training regime,’ he admitted.

McDermott released a statement (Picture: BBC/Guy Levy)

Zara posted a statement on Instagram, detailing how difficult she found part of the process.

‘Reports have been made about my treatment on the show and there were witnesses to some events, as well as videos of particular incidents which are incredibly distressing to watch,’ she wrote.

In a new statement and press release, the BBC has announced that they are taking measures in order to introduce ‘practical steps’ to support welfare.

‘Concerns that have arisen in recent months have been fundamentally about training and rehearsals. The actions we announce today are designed to address that,’ it was announced.

It was then detailed that the dance rehearsals will now be monitored, explaining ‘a production team member present during training room rehearsals at all times.’

Metro.co.uk has contacted BBC and James Jordan’s representatives for comment.

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