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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Entertainment
Jessica Sansome

BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Giovanni Pernice strips off to showcase new impressive inking with personal meaning

Giovanni Pernice sent fans into a flutter as he stripped off to unveil his latest tattoo. The Strictly Come Dancing star is no stranger to going under the needle as he's already been sporting a few different inkings during his time on the BBC One show.

The last tattoo fans were aware of the Italian dancer getting was once to commemorate winning the dance contest at the end of 2021. 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.

READ MORE: Denise van Outen reveals she turned down a huge TV role because it 'sounded boring'

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.

But yesterday Giovanni debuted his new inking and it appears to have a very personal meaning. Going topless to show off the design on his chest, his thousands of followers were able to see a figure of Freddie Mercury, in a pose reminiscent of one did at Live Aid in 1985.

Giovanni showed off his new inking on Instagram (Giovanni Pernice Instagram)

Accompanying it was a line attributed to the portrayal of Freddie in Oscar-winning film Bohemian Rhapsody. The words read: "I’m going to be what I was born to be – a performer."

Sharing a video to his Instagram Story, Giovanni added a GIF which said: "Welcome baby," while included the music of Freddie with Queen track Another One Bites the Dust.

The new tattoo comes after Giovani credited Freddie as one of his idols. He told press ahead of returning to the stage alongside Anton Du Beke for their joint tour, This Is Me: "One of my biggest idols is Freddie Mercury. He could do everything, and he had such power and incredible energy on stage.

"Unfortunately, I never got to see him live, but I watch all the clips of him on YouTube and everything and he is just incredible, honestly. Just unbelievable energy."

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