Giovanni Pernice falls out with celeb lovers as quickly as dance partners… do ‘lonely’ years before Strictly reveal why?
HE has Strictly fans swooning and revels in his Italian Stallion label but Giovanni Pernice has found himself in a spin over bullying accusations.
Amanda Abbington, who quit the show in October, has demanded footage from their training sessions and has reportedly told pals their tense relationship left her with PTSD.
The 33-year-old reportedly clashed with previous partners, including Ranvir Singh and Faye Tozer, over his boot camp methods – with Laura Whitmore saying he left her “broken” when she appeared on the show in 2016.
Amanda walked out of this year’s Strictly after dancing for just four weeks and quit a week later for “personal reasons.”
In a statement she said she was “sad” that she was “unable to go any further” and she went on to thank her contestants, the production team and “everyone on Strictly who looked after me and who are so kind and caring”.
Tellingly there was no mention of her dance partner in the post.
Now it’s emerged the 51-year-old actress wants to review recordings of their “tense” training sessions with a view to seeking legal advice.
The BBC has declined to carry out a probe into the Italian pro, despite calls for him to be sacked, and those close to the dancer say he’s a perfectionist whose determination to win is the reason for his boot camp style training sessions.
Giovanni – who has a tattoo reading “Born to Win” in Italian on his arm – has admitted to being “addicted” to victory.
He has also revealed a lonely childhood, when he was shunned by peers for his passion for dance and left home at 14 to pursue his dreams, has “shaped the man” he is today.
Here we look at the tough road to Strictly that means Giovanni takes no prisoners in the training room – or in his string of romances with celeb beauties from Maura Higgins to Georgia May Foote.
Childhood pain
Growing up in Sicily, Giovanni started dancing at a young age after watching the UK TV show Come Dancing – the precursor to Strictly – but said macho attitudes in his native island made it difficult to pursue his hobby.
“There’s a kind of attitude that if you’re a dancer you’re not a proper man,” he said, adding that the loneliness made him more keen to throw himself into dance.
He has also joked about his weight issues as a youngster, posting a childhood picture of himself, topless, wearing a bum bag and saying it was probably full of sweets “which, as you can see from my body in the picture, I very much enjoyed, along with lasagne and pizza.”
Mum Rosaldo and police officer dad Piero encouraged him to chase his dreams and, at 14, he moved to Bologna after winning a scholarship to train at a top dance school but being apart from his close knit family proved painful for the teenager.
“It was hard, because I was just a boy, and without my family by my side every day I felt as if I lost 50 per cent of my strength,” he told The Guardian.
“At first there were times where I did cry on the phone to my mamma. She would reassure me with encouraging words like: ‘Just remember why you are doing this.’
“Between my determination and the love I had from my family, we worked together as a team to make Giovanni the person he is today.”
He was soon travelling the world, competing in Latin contests, and in 2012 he became Italian champion with partner Erika Attisano.
To celebrate, he marked the occasion with his first tattoo – reading ‘Nato per Vincere’ (Born to Win) – and says that first taste of victory was “something I became addicted to,” adding: “The first time I won a competition, I thought: “Being the champion feels nice. Let me have more of it!”
But that victory, and the many wins that followed, took blood, sweat and tears, often meaning he missed family birthdays and Christmases as he prepared for competitions.
Perhaps understandably, his tough path to Strictly fame leads to frustration when a dance partner fails to show similar commitment.
Broken romances
His brutal regime as a teenager could also explain the broken romances with a string of beautiful women, including Georgia May Foote, Ashley Roberts and Love Island star Maura Higgins.
“As a young man, I got used to being alone and having to deal with difficult emotions by myself,” he said.
“It begins to feed itself – this lifestyle of being on your own can push you towards a more focused mindset. There are no distractions.”
He has previously said his dad also kept his emotions to himself, saying: “My dad is not a person that gives away his feelings.”
He dated Corrie star Georgia after partnering her on Strictly in 2015 and they split less than a year later.
Georgia said at the time: “Although it was not an easy decision to make, sometimes you realise that it is better to be friends and this is one of those times. We both have very busy work schedules for the rest of the year so we are both going to focus on our upcoming work projects and we wish each other well in the future.”
He went on to date TOWIE star Jess Wright for five months, in 2018 and Pussycat Doll Ashley for a year, ending the relationship in January 2020.
Maura was reported to be “blindsided” when Giovanni ended their four month relationship in October 2021 after telling her he “isn’t ready to settle down”.
Giovanni commented on Instagram: “I wanted to say a couple of things… Firstly, great relationships with great people can come to a natural end.
“This has been the case for me recently. There was absolutely no wrong-doing and this should be the end of any speculation.”
His latest rumoured romance, with fellow pro Jowita Przystal, is thought to have ended in March because of work commitments.
“There is a fine line about wanting to be in a relationship and be with somebody because you get lonely,” he has said, but he also admitted he would like to settle down eventually, adding: “Of course I want a family.”
Clashes with celebs
Amanda is not the only one of Giovanni’s partners to open up about how tough they found the show, with presenter Laura Whitmore hitting out at the BBC for making her “spend 12 hours a day with this one person.”
In 2018, two years after her stint on the show, she told Huffington Post: “I’m still not ready to talk in depth about my experience on the show. I was placed with a dance partner I was extremely uncomfortable with and in the end I felt broken, I cried every day. And I really was broken, both mentally and physically, by the end.”
The row intensified when reports emerged that Laura had sent “abusive” texts to Giovanni after they were knocked out of the competition, blaming him for being “no good”, which Laura had since denied.
Giovanni is rumoured to have clashed with Drag Race star Michelle Visage in 2019 after scolding her when she didn’t pick up the steps quickly enough.
Good Morning Britain presenter Ranvir Singh seemed to get along with the Italian pro but also talked about having a meltdown in training and ghosted him on social media after the series in 2020.
Richie Anderson, who partnered Giovanni last year, had unfollowed him on social media this week, as the row over Amanda deepened.
But he has remained close to Rose Ayling-Ellis, who lifted the glitter ball trophy with him in 2021. She has supported him since Amanda’s departure, liking a post of solidarity and joining him for dinner at the Royal Opera House a week after the drama.
His parents also defended him in the wake of her dramatic exit, with Piero telling the Sun: “My son is a really nice, polite and respectful boy. He always had good results with different partners and he has never had problems with them,”
Mum Rosaldo added: “They have to train tough hours to get some results. Giovanni has just done what he had to do. He was just doing his job.”
Amanda’s latest move means the row is far from over.
But with his supporters rallying round, and the BBC backing him against calls for a probe, this is one dance off Giovanni still has a chance of winning.