‘She made Giovanni’s life hard’: Laura Whitmore branded a ‘bully’
Laura Whitmore, 31, and her Strictly Come Dancing partner Giovanni Pernice, 26, left the show earlier this month amid rumours of a feud between the two.
Now Laura has been accused of being a "bully" with friends of the Italian dancer coming forward to speak out about the pair's relationship.
"Laura was a piece of work, she really was. She made Giovanni’s life hard" a source close to Giovanni told The Sun.
Incredibly, Laura has also been accused of sending abusive text messages to the dancer, undermining his skills and "basically saying he was no good and was not doing anything for her and abusing him."
"She was a difficult, cold fish – she was a bully to Giovanni and he behaved like a total gent. Giovanni is just relieved it’s all over" finished the source.
The pair left the competition in Week 7 after competing in the bottom two.
Another source disagreed about how the events unfolded, telling the DailyMail.com: "Gio was quite mean to her backstage and it tainted the whole experience for her."
"She isn't a submissive person and they had a few professional disagreements," said the source.
Laura is also known to be good friends with Giovanni's ex-girlfriend Georgia May Foote, who he partnered with on Strictly last year. Awkward.
“The atmosphere between Laura and Gio was never that great, but it’s now turned toxic" a third source also told The Sun.
“They clashed during rehearsals as Laura got increasingly agitated with Gio’s tone and general rudeness."
Gio was also accused by the experts of stealing the limelight in their final dance which ultimately cost them their place in the show.