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Strictly professional Graziano Di Prima has spoken out for the primary time since Zara McDermott’s “false” allegations in opposition to him, which he says have “ruined” his life.
The Italian dancer was dropped from Strictly Come Dancing final month after an investigation into the present was launched because of Amanda Abbigton’s complaints about Giovanni Pernice.
Di Prima was swiftly axed from the sequence after it was alleged that footage confirmed him kicking McDermott within the rehearsal room throughout final yr’s sequence. The footage has not been made public, and the circumstances surrounding it are unknown.
He has now stated the claims are “vile” and “false”, and stated that he doesn’t know the place they stemmed from.
“You’ll be able to’t think about what number of occasions my thoughts has been going again and ahead attempting to think about one thing that occurred all these months in the past that I can’t determine,” he stated in his first full interview for the reason that scandal.
He advised MailOnline: “The one factor I can consider is the time I kicked the ground in frustration. We’d practised hour after hour to good a routine with lifts. It wasn’t straightforward however that’s the strain of the present. I used to be in ache from lifting her so many occasions however needed to get it proper. I believed I might save her [from elimination].
“I wasn’t that means to kick her. I’d by no means, by no means try this. My foot brushed her after I kicked the ground. Afterwards I hugged her and stated I used to be sorry. There was no drawback. We carried on.”
He added: “I’m not a monster. I’m not an abusive man.”
Di Prima, who stated he has had “ugly ideas” since being dropped from the sequence, revealed he was much more blindsided by the event because of his friendship with McDermott for the reason that present ended.
The outlet states that McDermott – in a bunch chat with Di Prima and his spouse, Giada – despatched a video of a cat on 9 July. It was 20 minutes after the final message within the trade that Di Prima learnt he was being let go by Strictly producers.
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“These vile, false allegations ruined my life in a matter of minutes – professionally, financially, psychologically and reputationally,” he stated.
McDermott stated in a press release shortly after that she “wrestled with the concern of opening up” and admitted she had been afraid of “public backlash” and “victim-shaming”.
She wrote: “A lot of my Strictly expertise was the whole lot I might have dreamed of. The whole manufacturing group and everybody behind the scenes in addition to my fellow contestants have been so superb to work with.
“Nevertheless, my expertise contained in the coaching room was very totally different. Experiences have been made about my remedy on the present and there have been witnesses to some occasions, in addition to movies of explicit incidents, that are extremely distressing to observe.
“However after quite a lot of conversations with these I like, I’ve gained the energy to face these fears,” she stated.
The Unbiased has contacted McDermott for remark.
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