Graziano Di Prima has been dropped from Strictly Come Dancing after kicking his celebrity partner Zara McDermott during rehearsals, a spokesman said.
Di Prima, who joined Strictly in 2018, announced she was leaving the show last weekend.
Mark Borkowski, a spokesman for the dancer, told BBC News: “There was never a time when he felt it was right to kick or try to kick. He knows that. He knows he made a mistake. He apologised at the time.”
Di Prima said he could not clearly remember the incident, which happened last year, but did not deny that the kick occurred and accepted he had “crossed the line”.
Mr Borkowski denied reports that Mr Borkowski, 30, spat on Mr McDermott.
“I remember him pushing,” Di Prima said. [McDermott] Borkowski said he trained “pretty hard” during the training session on the day in question, “but he’s not aware of some of the issues surrounding it. His recollection doesn’t line up with the comments being made online.”
Borkowski said it was “complete nonsense” to say the single incident was typical of what happened during “weeks of training.”
Video of the incident during rehearsals is believed to have come to the attention of the BBC last week.
Di Prima has returned to Italy and does manual labour on a remote farm. Mr Borkowski described him as “vulnerable” and told PA media: “A flood of comments lacking context and nuance has sparked an attack which has left a young person extremely vulnerable.”
In a statement last Saturday, Di Prima said he “deeply regrets” the events that led to his resignation, adding that his “strong passion and determination to win may have influenced my training regime.”
McDermott, a documentary presenter and former Love Island contestant, released a statement saying she found the events that unfolded in the training room “incredibly distressing”.
“I gave it my all because I was fully aware of how much hard work and effort Strictly would require,” she said, adding: “I’m a tenacious person so I was prepared to give it my all, no matter what.”
McDermott said that much of his experience on Strictly has been “everything I’d dreamed of”, and that the show’s team have been “absolutely fantastic to work with”.
“But my experience in the training room was completely different. There has been coverage of how I was treated on the show, with eyewitnesses to some of the events and video of certain incidents that were very painful to watch,” she said.
The show has been embroiled in controversy following complaints not only against Di Prima but also another professional dancer, Giovanni Pernice. Pernice, 33, has denied “any suggestions of abusive or threatening behaviour”.
On Tuesday, the BBC announced that Strictly’s professional dancers will no longer be alone with contestants during rehearsals – a member of the production team will be present “at all times” during rehearsals in the training room, and there will be two full-time welfare producers as part of a series of additional measures.
Law firm Carter Luck said it had contacted the broadcaster after receiving “a number of serious complaints” about Mr Parnicci’s alleged behaviour whilst filming Strictly.
Kate Phillips, the BBC’s director of Unscripted, said the “vast majority of people who have participated” in the show have had a positive experience. “Where issues are raised or we become aware of inappropriate behaviour we always take it seriously and act,” she said.
