Strictly Come Dancing pro champions Jowita Pryzstal and Giovanni Pernice are reportedly dating and went public with their romance at a friend's birthday bash, it has been claimed.
The secret couple were said to have been caught backstage kissing and kept their fledging romance underwraps for weeks, before flirting at a birthday party for Chelsea footballer Jorghino, who is a friend of 32-year-old Giovanni's.
New Strictly pro Jowita, 28, won the competition at the weekend with wildlife presenter Hamza Yassin, while Giovanni took home the Glitterball trophy last year, with actress Rose Ayling-Ellis.
However, he made an early exit this year with celeb partner, radio 2 DJ Richie Anderson.
Rumours about the alleged couple reportedly began after chemistry was spotted when they danced together at the start of the show in October.
A source told the Sun: “She and Gio are the worst kept secret, but make a great couple.”
They added: "While they both kept insisting they were single, the pair’s chemistry was ridiculous — and they kept getting busted snogging in corridors."
The source said that Jowita especially wanted to keeping their romance on the downlow so she could be focussed on Hamza, and the relationship did not distract from the competition.
This would not be Giovanni's first Strictly romance. He embarked on a relationship with his first celeb partner Georgia May Foote, after the pair finished as runners up.
Georgia was dating her Corrie co-star Sean Ward but their relationship fell apart as the intensity of Strictly grew.
And after the series finished, Giovanni and Georgia were seen kissing during a New Year trip to Disneyland Paris.
After a month of dating, the couple moved in together with Georgia calling Gio "the best thing that had ever happened to her."
However, within a year they called it quits. He also dated contestant Ashley Roberts in 2018, after she competed on the show, and they were together for a year.
He tweeted at the start of 2020 to announce their breakup, writing: "@ImAshleyRoberts and I have made the decision to separate as a couple. We remain friends and wish each other well for the future."
Gio also dated Love Island star Maura Higgins for four months and were linked after they were spotted watching the Euro 2020 match at Wembley together.
He took to Instagram to share their split, writing: "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."
