Giovanni Pernice has publicly celebrated the success of his new BBC show with Anton du Beke, sharing his delight at the ratings for the first episode of Adventures in Sicily on Instagram. And its launch came days after he left fans gutted with the news he won't do the Strictly Come Dancing tour next year, even if he wins the next series.
The travel series, which sees the popular pro and Strictly judge join forces, was confirmed by the broadcaster last year, before having its premiere in London earlier this year. And, as fans waited to get their first look and Giovanni continues to tour the country with his Made in Italy show, episode one went out to the nation in the coveted 9pm slot on BBC One on Tuesday night.
The first leg of Anton and Giovanni’s Sicilian road trip began in the port town of Sciacca, and from there, saw them take in Greek architecture, octopus fishing and a tango festival, where they had an opportunity to show off some of their famous footwork.
The overnight viewing figures for Adventures in Sicily, were released along with the stats for all other shows in the same time slot, on Wednesday, and Giovanni proudly shared the news that the programme had attracted 2.3 million people, on his Instagram story.
As every episode of Adventures in SIcily was made available to watch on BBC iPlayer,. Anton spoke about the show with a post on his Insta grid, uploading a photo of himself and Giovanni and writing: "Well, my loves, how did we do?! I so hope you enjoyed episode 1 of our Sicilian adventure - I think you can probably tell Gio and I had such a wonderful time together... and there's so much more to come!"
A teaser for the programme's second episode confirmed, what many fans had already guessed, that Giovanni's former Strictly partner, Rose Ayling-Ellis travelled over tio Europe to join him on the show. Those fans who rushed ahead to watch the series in its entirety, claim to have been left emotional by their on-screen reunion, over a year after they lifted the Glitterball trophy.
Giovanni might be back in the Strictly ballroom again this year, but he definitely won't be on the tour, even if he wins again, as he dates for his next tour - Let Me Entertain You - would directly clash with the Strictly tour schedule.
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