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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Sarah Leonard

Strictly's Giovanni and Rose's special bond - dinner dates, tattoos and romance rumours

Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice will remain forever connected by their memories from Strictly Come Dancing.

Rose, who is known for playing Frankie Lewis in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, made history as the first deaf contestant to appear on the competition.

She was paired up with Italian hunk Giovanni, who had earned a reputation for making it to the final numerous times - and for being linked to some of his past partners.

The unlikely duo had an incredible spark from the off, which was reflected in their faultless and moving performances.

In week 6 the couple scored a perfect 40, the earliest the top mark has ever been achieved in the show.

The pair continued to go from strength to strength in the competition before making it all the way to the live final, which they eventually won.

But rather than waltz off into the sunset on very separate paths, the two have stayed close. We take a look at everything they've been up to together since the show and how they've continued to celebrate their special bond....

Rose and Giovanni won Strictly in 2021 (PA)

Not long after being crowned the winners, a giddy Giovanni immortalised his time with Rose with a tattoo to commemorate the 2021 series.

The professional dancer, who recently unveiled a new silver fox do on Instagram, has a Glitterball trophy inked on his arm alongside the date of his and Rose's incredible win.

Giovanni made no secret of his desire to finally win the show, and previously thanked Rose for 'making all his dreams come true' when they lifted the Glitterball trophy together in December.

"You became the best dancer, the best teammate. You are a dream Rose, thank you for everything," he told her.

Strictly's Giovanni Pernice gets tattoo in sweet tribute to Rose Ayling-Ellis (giovannipernice/Instagram)
Strictly won the Royal Television Society Judge award (Dave Benett/Getty Images)

As well as his inking, Giovanni also revealed that he has a has a photo of him and Rose dancing in his home.

Sitting pride of place in Giovanni's living room is a memento of their performance to Clean Bandit and Zara Larsson's 'Symphony' - which they deliberately cut the music midway through the performance.

Rose and Giovanni then continued to dance across the ballroom floor in silence, which moved viewers to tears.

The couple performed their silent 'Symphony' whilst on tour (Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
They won all but two of the Strictly Tour performances (Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)

Soap star Rose has also made no secret of her fondness for Giovanni.

In a tribute post on Instagram she told him: "@giovannipernice, I am so grateful that you were part of my strictly journey. Thank you for telling my story and showing everyone who I am.

"Our friendship is so special and lasting for sure," she vowed.

The pair found an easy way to stay in touch as they headed off on the Strictly tour alongside their co-stars.

But proving they were pals off the dance floor as well as off, the duo continued to head off on their own to restaurants.

Their cosy outings followed a tradition they had started during the BBC competition, where the foodies delighted fans with Instagram snaps and videos of their dinners together.

Rose's boyfriend was even invited to some of the meet ups - shutting down rumours that the actress and Giovanni were getting cosy behind the scenes.

An ongoing joke throughout the series, which followed them into the real world after Strictly had finished, would be videos of the winning couple sitting or eating together in silence, appearing very unhappy about the situation.

Despite that, we're pretty sure they get along just fine.

During the Strictly Live Tour, Italian Giovanni was seen to peck Rose on the cheek whilst she shared an update to his Instagram story.

Giovanni kisses Rose on the cheek (Rose Ayling-Ellis Instagram)
Rose and Gio acted the part as they stare into one another's eyes (BBC/Guy Levy)

Whilst in Birmingham, the two looked cosy as they were photographed at a hotel lobby.

But later, after being crowned the overall winners of the Strictly Live Tour, Giovanni called his relationship with Rose an 'eternal friendship.'

He added: "I love you @rose.a.e. THANK YOU for the best 6 months of my life!"

Hearts might break at the firm fixture in the friendzone, but Rose has had a longterm boyfriend for seven years, Samuel Arnold, according to MailOnline.

The couple tend to keep their relationship private.

They featured in an awareness campaign for mental health (INSTAGRAM)

In what might be the final cherry on their Strictly cake, Rose and Giovanni are expected to take home the award for BAFTAs Must See Moment of 2021 during tonights ceremony.

BAFTA themselves tweeted that their silent performance "blew them away".

Giovanni spoke of his time dancing the iconic routine on BBC Breakfast: "It was more than just a dance and sixteen seconds of silence, for us it was more, 'show what Rose feels every single week'.

The dancing duo formed an 'eternal friendship' during their time on Strictly (Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)

"And I think since we did that moment, people have realised how difficult it was for Rose dancing. It was definitely special."

The pair are facing some stiff competition; Adele reuniting with her English teacher during An Audience with Adele , Ant and Dec's political jibes on I'm A Celebrity , Squid Game 's now-iconic Red Light Green Light game, Bimini's performance on RuPaul's Drag Race UK , and Colin's heart-wrenching AIDs diagnosis on It's A Sin.

You can watch the BAFTAs live on BBC One or stream it via BBC iPlayer.

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