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Giovanni Pernice© Ray Burmiston

Strictly's Giovanni Pernice celebrates with 'other half' amid split reports

The Strictly Come Dancing star recently confirmed his new relationship

Diane Shipley
Senior Online Writer
March 20, 2024
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Giovanni Pernice went public with his latest girlfriend Molly Brown last month in a restaurant photo of the pair that he captioned "Amore mio," which means "My love". 

Now, however, the pair appear to have split, having unfollowed each other on Instagram and deleted the loving post. 

The star still has something to celebrate, however, and the person he calls his "other half" is clearly equally excited. 

Recommended videoYou may also likeWATCH: Giovanni Pernice shares insight into relationship with Rose Ayling-Ellis

Gio's co-star and close friend Anton Du Beke took to his Instagram Stories, where he shared a photo that the Italian had posted to his own Stories earlier in the week. 

The picture showed the two stars with their arms in the air smiling, and Giovanni tagged Anton as he captioned it: "We won the slot again last night!!" He continued: "1.8 mil thank you!!" He was referring to the viewing figures for the pair's new show, Anton & Giovanni's Adventures in Spain, which launched on Monday. 

The pair's new show launched this week
View post on Instagram
 

The good news comes after three of Giovanni's former Strictly partners reportedly met at the weekend to discuss their challenging experiences of training with the star. 

He has been the subject of much speculation since his 2023 Strictly partner, actress Amanda Abbington, dropped out of the show for what she described at the time as "personal reasons," before later revealing that she'd been diagnosed with PTSD. 

Giovanni Pernice standing with Rose Ayling-Ellis© Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
The star won Strictly with Rose Ayling-Ellis in 2021

She has also reportedly sought legal advice to gain access to training footage. On Saturday, The Sun reported that Amanda had met up with GBB presenter Ranvir Singh and Love Island host Laura Whitmore to swap notes after all three apparently found working with the dancer difficult.

Earlier last week, Giovanni had opened up on the Invite Only podcast, where he praised Amanda's dance ability while admitting to being a "perfectionist". 

Amanda Abbington and Giovanni Pernice© BBC
Amanda and Giovanni during their short Strictly stint

"It's a shame because, in my opinion, she could have gone all the way," the dancer said. "I am a perfectionist, 100%, but it comes from a perspective of caring." 

During an appearance on This Morning, Michelle Visage confirmed that she would describe the dancer's training regime as "tough," saying: "He's probably the toughest pro there is. I wanted that. So it depends, some people can handle that, some people don't want to handle that. I wanted that." 

Michelle Visage and Giovanni Pernice cuddle up on the red carpet© Getty
Michelle called Giovanni 'the toughest pro there is'

Debbie McGee – another former partner – however, shared that she and Giovanni "had the best of times on Strictly". The 34-year-old has also no doubt found a loyal supporter in Anton, to whom he has paid very sweet tribute in the past. 

Every Strictly Come Dancing winner so far

Rose and Giovanni with the Glitterball in 2021
Rose and Giovanni lifted the Glitterball in 2021
  • 2004: Natisha Kaplinsky (partner Brendan Cole)
  • 2004: Jill Halfpenny (partner Darren Bennett) 
  • 2005: Darren Gough (partner Lilia Kopylova) 
  • 2006: Mark Ramprakash (partner Karen Hardy) 
  • 2007: Alesha Dixon (partner Matthew Cutler) 
  • 2008: Tom Chambers (partner Camilla Dallerup) 
  • 2009: Chris Hollins (partner Ola Jordan) 
  • 2010: Kara Tointon (partner Artem Chigvintsev) 
  • 2011: Harry Judd (partner Aliona Vilani)
  • 2012: Louis Smith (partner Flavia Cacace)
  • 2013: Abbey Clancy (partner Aljaž Škorjanec) 
  • 2014: Caroline Flack (partner Pasha Kovalev) 
  • 2015: Jay McGuiness (partner Aliona Vilani) 
  • 2016: Ore Oduba (partner Joanne Clifton) 
  • 2017: Joe McFadden (partner Katya Jones)
  • 2018: Stacey Dooley (partner Kevin Clifton)
  • 2019: Kelvin Fletcher (partner Oti Mabuse)
  • 2020: Bill Bailey (partner Oti Mabuse) 
  • 2021: Rose Ayling-Ellis (partner Giovanni Pernice) 
  • 2022: Hamza Yassin (partner Jowita Przystał)
  • 2023: Ellie Leach (partner Vito Coppola)

Last year, Giovanni appeared on the Waitrose Eat podcast, where he told host Nick Grimshaw: "We are very, very good friends. 

Anton Du Beke and Giovanni Pernice walking together© Ricky Vigil/GC Images
Anton and Giovanni are close friends

"He was the only one when I joined Strictly, he helped me with everything." Revealing that he needed a translator for his first series in 2015 because he didn't speak English, Giovanni shared that Anton was a wonderful support during that challenging time.

He said: "I couldn't speak any English and he's always been there for me since the beginning. We ended up being like – I don't want to say father and son – but like brothers."

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