Giovanni Pernice gave a sweet nod to his former Strictly Come Dancing celeb partner Rose Ayling-Ellis as he celebrated results show success with Richie Anderson on Sunday night.
It's been 12 months since Italian pro Giovanni and EastEnders actress Rose warmed the hearts of the nation with their Strictly partnership, making it all the way to the final and winning the Glitterball trophy, thanks to a host of amazing performances, most notably their Couples Choice routine, which saw them dance to 10 seconds of complete silence in support of the deaf community.
A year on from his ballroom success with Rose, Giovanni is now one half of an all-male pairing on Strictly 2022, dancing with One Show and Radio 2 host Richie. After they finished middle of the pack with their week one cha cha cha, Giovanni and Richie soared to near the top of the leaderboard, getting 32 out of 40 for their fantastic Quickstep on Saturday night.
READ MORE : Strictly result splits panel as Shirley Ballas disagrees with vote
That score, plus viewer votes, were enough to see Giovanni and Richie advance through to Movie Week. Giovanni is famous for his 'thank you, thank you' shouts every time he makes it through and on Sunday night, this came with the sign language for the message as well. And it didn't take viewers at home long to pick up on the subtle tribute to Rose.
Taking to Twitter, one fan posted: "Really impressive to see Giovanni continuing to use the sign language Rose taught him last series in this latest series of #Strictly," with a second reacting: "Giovanni continuing to sign after competing with Rose," along with a teary eyed emoji.
While there were celebrations for Giovanni and Richie, there was bad news for Kaye Adams and Kai Widdrington, as they were the first couple to get the Strictly boot this year.
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