What feud? Strictly Come Dancing’s Amanda Abbington lovingly describes pro partner Giovanni Pernice ‘like a little brother’ after hitting back at claims she ‘threatened to quit’ as they take to the floor for series’ first live show

• Strictly Come Dancing 2023 LIVE : Follow all the updates for the first show of this year’s series 

Strictly’s Amanda Abbington once again batted away reports of a feud with pro partner Giovanni Pernice as they took the dance floor for the show’s first live episode on Saturday.

The actress, 49, described the dancer, 33, as being like ‘a little brother’ in the pre-recorded VT saying she ‘already loves him’, before going on to admit she hadn’t picked things up ‘as quickly as she wanted to’ during rehearsals.

The first live show saw all 15 couples perform for the first time with Nigel Harmon and Katya Jones on top of the leaderboard with 32 points and  Les Dennis and his partner Nancy Xu at the bottom with a disappointing 16.

Earlier on Saturday Amanda shared a video to Instagram where she rubbished the rumours of clashes with Giovanni in a foul-mouthed rant. 

It follows claims she was ‘left shaken’ by his ‘militant and aggressive’ training style with tensions escalating between the pair.

What feud? Strictly’s Amanda Abbington, 49, once again batted away reports of a feud with pro partner Giovanni Pernice, 33, as they took the dance floor for the show’s first live episode on Saturday

Happy as Larry: The actress described the dancer as being like ‘a little brother’ in the pre-recorded VT saying she ‘already loves him’

Starting strong: The first live show saw all 15 couples perform for the first time with Nigel Harmon and Katya Jones (pictured) on top of the leaderboard with 32 points and Les Dennis and his partner Nancy Xu at the bottom with a disappointing 16

But Amanda hit back saying she was ‘ignoring the bulls***’ as she insisted things are all good between her and Giovanni.  

The duo then took to the floor as they performed an elegant Viennese waltz to to Pointless by Lewis Capaldi, which earned a respectable 29 points from the judges.  

Shirley said: ‘Your fluidity, your sensitivity, your beautiful styling, you have this beautiful chemistry, I loved it.’

Anton advised Amanda to relax a little, saying: ‘It was all great, emotionally exquisite. I want you to breath, if there was another 30 seconds to go I think you may have passed out.’

Earlier in the episode fans flooded Amy Dowden with support after she was absent from the show as she currently undergoes chemotherapy treatment amid her battle with breast cancer. 

Yet the Welsh dragon is still very much part of the Strictly family as fans spotted her in the 2023 titles which introduces all the couples at the start of every show alongside the recognisable theme music.

And fans have now flocked to share their support with the star as they headed to Twitter to send her their well wishes. 

One fan wrote: ‘God bless you Amy. you are missed this year . Get well, we want you better and back to your lovely self’. 

Another commented: ‘Sad that Amy Dowden can’t be on this series of #Strictly – she was always one of my faves and will be again! Good luck to her.’ 

While Amy attended the National Television Awards with her Strictly co-stars she was unable to attend the launch show episode which aired last week. 

And as Amy sent her good luck’s to the Strictly contestants, fans sent their love to the star. 

‘She is such a lovely lady with a heart of hold. You can beat this Amy,’ added another viewer. 

While a fourth sent ‘Thinking of you #AmyDowden loads of love and prayers xx’.  

Yet Amy may be back earlier than we may have thought, after the star shared her hopes of returning to Strictly Come Dancing in a matter of weeks.

The dancer took to Instagram on Saturday to wish her fellow professionals and the celebrity line-up luck for Saturday’s first live show of the 2023 series.

Strictly:  Week One Leaderboard

Nigel Harman and Katya Jones – Paso Doble to Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana – 32 points out of 40 

Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin – Samba to Touch by Little Mix – 29 points out of 40 

Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola – Jive to Can’t Tame Her by Zara Larsson – 29 points out of 40

Bobby Brazier and Diane Buswell – Foxtrot to All About You by McFly – 29 points out of 40 

Amanda Abbington and Giovanni Pernice – Viennese Waltz to Pointless by Lewis Capaldi – 29 points out of 40 

Angela Rippon Kai Wrrington – Cha Cha to Get The Party Started by Shirley Bassey – 28 points out of 40

Annabel Croft and Johannes Radebe – Cha Cha to Uptown Girl by Billy Joel – 28 points out of 40

Angela Scanlan and Carlos Gu – Tango to Prisoner by Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa – 23 points out of 40

Eddie Kadi and Karen – Quickstep to Two Hearts by Phil Collins –  22 points out of 40 

Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Lauren Oakley – Cha Cha to Boom Shack A Lack by Apache Indian – 22 points out of 40

Jody Cundy and Jowita Przystał – Quickstep to I’m On Top Of The World by Bobby Darin – 21 points out of 40 

Adam Thomas and Luba Mushtuk – Cha Cha to Waffle House by Jonas Brothers – 19 points out of 40 

Zara McDermott and Graziano Dr Prima – Cha Cha to Crush by Jennifer Page – 19 points out of 40

Nikita Kanda and Gorka Marquez – Waltz to Run To You by Whitney Houston  – 18 points out of 40

Les Dennis and Nancy Xu – Tango to  Don’t You Want Me by Human League – 16 points out of 40

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