Giovanni Pernice is “thrilled” to have joined Italy’s Strictly Come Dancing following his exit from the BBC show this year.
The Italian-born, 34, left the UK edition of the show following complaints made by his partner of last year, actress Amanda Abbington, 52, which sparked a probe into the show.
It’s now been reported the choreographer will be returning to the dance competition overseas instead. It’s understood Pernice has been signed up for Ballando cone le Stelle, the Italian version of the hit BBC favourite.
It’s thought the show will start next week, with The Mail on Sunday revealing the dancer is set to join the series after he vehemently denied claims made by Sherlock star Abbington about his “conduct” on the UK show.
An insider told the publication: “Gio is thrilled, he has been hoping that it would happen, he had everything crossed. He is so excited that he can keep on dancing and what makes it all the more lovely is that it will be in his home country.
“The deadline has been looming and the BBC has been on pause with its result but the Ballando bosses love him, they adore him, and they have now signed him.”
They continued: “It is absolutely horrendous for Gio. He has been stuck in limbo and has been unable to move on with his life. It will be a lovely, lovely boost for him.”
The Italian edition off the beloved series kicked off back in 2005, a year after the UK show debuted on screens.
Pernice had been a part of the BBC edition since 2015 and went on to win the 2021 series alongside former EastEnders star Rose Ayling-Ellis.
Last year, Abbington decided to pull out of the show on week five following reports of a feud between herself and Pernice. Later, she made complaints about the dancer’s “abusive” behaviour towards her.
Pernice has continued to deny the claims but left the show ahead of this year’s series. As part of the probe into Strictly, his co-star Grazianno Di Prima was axed from the professional line-up over similar accusations.
While concerns over the show’s future were rife, it seems the 2024 series is set to kick off as normal later this month.
The BBC announced it would be introducing some new measures as a result of the investigation, but this year’s group of famous faces were announced at the end of last month.
While the pairings between the professionals and celebrities remain under wraps until this year’s launch show, the full list of celebrity participants has now been confirmed.
They include EastEnders actor Jamie Borthwick, Gladiators star Montell Douglas, Olympian Tom Dean, The X Factor winner Shayne Ward, Miranda actress Sarah Hadland, Love Island’s Tasha Ghouri, reality star Pete Wicks, JLS star JB Gill, singer Wynne Evans, 80s icon Toyah Willcox, BBC Morning Live star Dr Punam Krishnan, comedian Chris McCausland, TV presenter Nick Knowles, former footballer and broadcaster Paul Merson and Olympian Sam Quek.
The BBC issued a statement recently after it came under fire for its “male heavy” line-up, which saw many assuming the reason for there being more men in this year’s series is thanks to the BBC “misconduct” investigation.
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However, the BBC has claimed the loss of Di Prima and Pernice isn’t what resulted in a male-heavy cast, insisting there is “no hard and fast rule” when it comes to picking the number of men or women in the line-up.
Meanwhile, other complaints surrounding the line-up include public criticism about reality star Ghouri, with some noting she is a “trained dancer” and therefore has an “unfair advantage”.
According to Move It Dance, Ghouri worked as a self-employed dancer behind a bar. She has also appeared in music videos and has in the past suggested that filming for Love Island had obstructed her filming for the 2023 film Barbie, which she had auditioned for as a dancer.
Move It Dance also goes on to say the TV personality graduated from Creative Academy and has “excelled in various dance contracts”.
