Yahoo News Giovanni Pernice declares love for Strictly Come Dancing co-star as she supports after latest statement
Giovanni Pernice sweetly shared his love for his former Strictly Come Dancing co-star as she copied one of his on-stage moves. It is the first time Shirley Ballas has publicly directed any communication in the dancer's direction after claims about his behaviour on the show.
Giovanni wasn't included in the line-up of professional dancers confirmed by the BBC who will return to the ballroom later this year. While they haven't explicitly referenced his exit, the BBC did not announce the 33-year-old as part of its line-up of professionals for 2024 following claims of abusive or threatening behaviour, which he has strongly rejected.
The Italian dancer has been on the BBC One celebrity dancing show since 2015 when he reached the grand final with Coronation Street star Georgia May Foote. He later won the show in 2021 with EastEnders star Rose Ayling-Ellis, and was last paired with Sherlock actress Amanda Abbington, who withdrew from the competition in 2023 citing "personal reasons".
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But Giovanni has since been subject to a number of allegations regarding his conduct in the training room. He previously rejected allegations of “abusive or threatening behaviour” and said he looks “forward to clearing my name”.
He has since issued a fresh statement on Sunday morning (June 16) and said he is “co-operating fully” with an ongoing BBC investigation and is looking forward to “clearing my name and establishing the truth”. The star wrote: “To my fans and followers,
"Every week, there are totally untrue stories about me in the media. As you know, I have always rejected any suggestion of abusive or threatening behaviour. The latest accusations are simply false. I am co-operating fully with the ongoing BBC investigation, which will determine the truth.
"As requested, I have stayed silent, but I am looking forward to the conclusion of the investigation and ultimately clearing my name and establishing the truth. I am so happy to be back on tour. Thank you all for your continued support – your messages and love mean so very much to me. I will hopefully see many of you very soon and I look forward to clearing my name. With love, Giovanni."
As Giovanni continues his latest tour with Strictly judge Anton Du Beke, Shirley also seemingly confirmed she was keeping up with the pair as she copied one of Giovanni's on-stage moves that he does on his solo tours and now with Anton in which they record a video, in which they suggest no one had turned up to the show or that the turn-out had been a disappointment, only for the crowd to erupt into applause and cheers right on cue.
And Shirley gave it a go herself as she had her own event for her book, Murder on the Dancefloor, at the Chorleywood War Memorial Hall where she signed copies of the novel and took part in a Q&A session. "@giovannipernice... nobody came to watch the show," the Strictly head judge wrote across her video with a winking face emoji.
As Shirley said in the clip she was 'very sad' that the event hadn't been a success before showing the dozens of people who had turned up to meet and listen to the dance star. "Oh I love you," Giovanni said as he reshared Shirley's post to his own Instagram Story, adding a crying laughing emoji and a red love heart.
