25 October 2023 , 10:13
661
0
Giovanni Pernice has been Strictly Come Dancing’s lothario since he joined the BBC show as a professional dancer back in 2015.
Since then the Sicily-born star has hit the headlines as much for his life off-screen as he has for his moves on the dance floor – with his rumoured fall out with this year’s partner Amanda Abbington, who has now quit the show, being no exception.
As well as backstage spats, the fiery Italian stallion has had a string of famous girlfriends since his Strictly debut, from reality TV stars to girl band members. He was also linked with deaf EastEnders star Rose Ayling-Ellis, who he won the show with in 2021.
Fans were disappointed when Giovanni and Rose appeared to be just be friends and he was most recently said to be dating fellow Strictly professional dancer Jowita Przystal. Though the pair reportedly split in March this year after just three months of dating.
Now he’s seemingly back on the market, we look at the 33-year-old’s life away from the cameras, from why he’s never settled down to his ‘furious’ ex – and the Strictly co-star he secretly lives with.
Strictly's Molly Rainford and Tyler West fuel romance rumours while on tour
'Refusing' to settle
It seemed like Gio and Love Island star Maura Higgins were for keeps (Instagram)
Gio also dated Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts (Instagram)Despite having a string of girlfriends, ranging from former Strictly Georgia May Foote to Love Island star Maura Higgins and Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts, Giovanni has still not settled down.
He recently admitted he would like to find the right person and start a family – however, he told good pal Anton Du Beke in their new show Anton and Giovanni: Adventures in Sicily that he doesn’t feel “grown up” enough to be a family man yet.
Opening up to Anton, Giovanni shared: “My mum always says to me, ‘so what is the situation?’ You know, because obviously, every time I date a girl I always tell her and ask ‘what do you think about this.’
“Bless her, she saw so many passing by and she asks ‘is she the one?’ and she says ‘You know I want a baby before I pass away’. Of course I want to have a family one day you know, I just have to find the right person first."
Giovanni added: “I’m just very focused on my career as you were at my age. I always say it as a bit of a joke, but I mean it, when I grow up I want to be Anton Du Beke.” But he said: “I do get lonely sometimes, there’s no one to share it with. It’s a tricky thing, a fine line. Sometimes you want to be free to be able to focus on your career.”
Furious ex
Giovanni dated TOWIE star Jess Wright for six months in 2018 (Getty Images)
Giovanni and Jess were spotted having a furious row at the Pride of Britain awards (Mirror.co.uk)Another one of Giovanni’s famous exes is former The Only Way Is Essex star Jess Wright, who he dated for six months from November 2017 to April 2018. Although the split seemed amicable at the time, things kicked off at the Pride of Britain Awards later that year.
In video footage obtained by the Mirror, Jess was angrily heard telling Giovanni “you’re full of s***!” and demanding to know why he had called time on their relationship – and even accused him of using her for fame.
She was overheard saying: “You broke my heart, you lied to me. I got in a cab and I never saw you again for six months... you used me... publicity, fame. No one who loves someone drops them, you’re jealous of everything!”
As several people tried to intervene, a furious Jess then continued: “We were together six months. You never cared about me. I want to know why you left me!” After their very public spat, Giovanni claimed the decision to end the relationship was mutual and denied Jess’ claims.
In a chat with New magazine, he said: “That’s what Essex people say. They’re very dramatic, but by the end of the conversation we were okay. It’s fine. We know what happened between us and why we split up.”
Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman 'sign deal' to host Strictly for two more years
Jess, who is the sister of fellow TOWIE star turned TV presenter Mark Wright, has since moved on and is now married to businessman William Lee-Kemp and the pair share one-year-old son Presley.
Famous fall outs
Amanda Abbington reportedly had a 'frosty' relationship with Strictly 2023 partner Giovanni (BBC)Speculation is rife that Giovanni’s Strictly partner for 2023, Amanda Abbington, quit this year’s show after a series of backstage fall outs with the pro dancer. The Mr Selfridge actress announced she was dropping out of this year’s line-up for “personal reasons” - but interestingly left Giovanni out of her tribute to people she had enjoyed working with on the show.
And Amanda is not the only one of Giovanni’s Strictly partners to have had rumoured fall outs with him over the years. Laura Whitmore said she “hated” having to spend time with the Italian outside of the dance show when she was partnered with him in 2016, but was “forced to”.
RuPaul's Drag Race judge is said to have claimed she was "deeply unhappy" after a series of backstage rows with dance partner Giovanni in 2019. There were reports the pair had been "locking horns from the start". The pair eventually bowed out in Blackpool, coming eighth place in the competition following criticism for their performance to Madonna's song Vogue.
One of the most intense dance partnerships of the 2020 series was when Giovanni was paired with Good Morning Britain presenter . There were rumours that Gio had charmed his dance partner off-screen once again - and Ranvir was recently single.
Laura Whitmore said she 'hated' how much time she had to spend with Giovanni (BBC)The pair narrowly missed out on reaching the final that year - and Giovanni quickly shut down rumours of a romance between them. In an interview with Entertainment Daily he brutally said there was "no way" he would date Ranvir, claiming they were "very, very good friends".
Whether anything romantic went down or not is a mystery, but Ranvir appeared to unfollow Giovanni after the show suggesting that maybe they weren't such great pals after all.
Last year, feud claims hit Giovanni again as he was partnered with BBC Radio 2 DJ in his first male pairing on Strictly to date. The pair were hit by reports of fallouts during rehearsals before the live shows even started and were rumoured not to get along.
Secretly Strictly housemate
Giovanni is close pals with Strictly star Kai Widdrington and the pair used to be flatmates (Instagram)
The pair are still close and are often spotted joking around on set (Instagram)Fans might not know this, but Giovanni has a famous housemate, who also stars with him on Strictly Come Dancing.
Back in 2021, it was announced Southampton-born choreographer and dancer Kai Widdrington was joining the show and the now 28-year-old has since gone on to become a fan favourite.
Kai is currently loved up with fellow pro dancer, Ukrainian ballroom star Nadiya Bychkova, and it is thought the pair live together with 34-year-old Nadiya is in the UK. But back when he was starting out on Strictly, Kai lived with Giovanni in London.
Giovanni and Kai even spent Christmas together two years ago when Kai flew out to visit is close pal in Italy, and the pair remain close and Strictly co-stars. Speaking on BBC Breakfast at the time, Kai said: “I get to dance alongside my flatmate, what more could you want?”