Giovanni Pernice's love life is just as well documented as his dances on Strictly Come Dancing. So it's no surprise he had a cheeky response when he was asked by fans about his dating life. The Italian dancer is currently busy preparing for the return of the BBC One dance contest next month.
The celebrity line-up is gradually being revealed and the show's professional dancers are already hard at work in rehearsals. They are set to pre-record the show's launch routines early next month before getting to work with their new partners for the 2022 series.
But while they're busy spending their days dancing together, Giovanni did get some time on his travels to take part in a Q&A with his fans on Instagram.
Clearly eager to know more about his current romantic situation, one fan quizzed: "Who are you dating?" But Giovanni wasn't going to give up that information and instead the 31-year-old replied with a long list of people including Gorka Marquez, Kai Widdrington, and various members of the BBC production team, tagging them in his post.
Giovanni has been linked to the likes of former Love Island star Maura Higgins, Pussycat Doll Ashely Roberts, and former Coronation Street star Georgia May Foote.
Giovanni and Maura dated for four months before suddenly calling it quits after a string of affectionate public displays. But the Strictly star insisted that there was no wrongdoing on either side. Taking to his Instagram Stories at the time of the split, Giovanni explained: "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. Whilst I respect and understand interest in my personal life, wouldn't it be fantastic to instead use this space to raise awareness of subjects and issues which need the attention."
Giovanni's Q&A did also include some questions he was willing to answer, including his favourite thing about Strictly. "Love everybody who works there," he replied. "Is a very big family in front and behind the camera," he added with a string of red heart emojis.
He was also asked whether he'd consider being in a same-sex couple on the show after it was confirmed that Richie Anderson will be dancing with a male partner this year. And Giovanni's answer couldn't have been clearer as he posted a gif which said: "Hell Yes!"
Giovanni stormed to victory in the ballroom, his first win in seven years on the hit show, alongside Rose Ayling-Ellis. The pro and EastEnders actress won the hearts of the nation - and the judges - thanks to their beautiful and though-provoking performance - particularly the award-winning moment the pair danced without music in honour of the deaf community.
After lifting the Glitterball trophy, Giovanni made fans cry with a then-new addition to his tattoo collection which was a tribute to the pair's shared victory. It features the famous Glitterball complete with the date the pair won the series. The sparkling trophy has the letters SCD in the middle and December 18 2021 in numerical form.
Going into the new series as reigning champ, Giovanni is set to be joined by someone he knows well. Giovanni is good friends with new professional dancer Lauren Oakley as they have worked together on his tour where she starred as his “leading lady”. Taking to Instagram Stories last month when Lauren's place on the show was announced, Giovanni shared a photo of himself kissing Lauren on the cheek.
He wrote: "Nobody deserves it more than you. Go on super [star]." He then shared a video of Lauren trying on clothes as he said: “My leading lady and now @bbcstrictly professional… THAT’S @laurenmayoakley everyone,” followed by a heart-eyes emoji. Lauren will be joining fellow newbies Carlos Gu, Vito Coppola, and Michelle Tsiakkas.
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