Returning Giovanni Pernice got tongues wagging as he cosies up with his latest celeb dance partner.

The dancer, who quit the BBC show earlier this year, struggled up with Bianca Guaccero, who is working with him on Ballando con le Stelle after leaving the UK version. Gio and actress Bianca, 43, were pushing the show’s new series with the Italian programme a couple of weeks behind.

They sparked possible romance rumours with their very close bi-lingual post, Bianca perched on the dancer’s knee as they laugh together. They pleaded for votes and smiled they spoke in Italian and then England as they thanked fans for their support so far. MirrorOnline have contracted his reps for comment.

There was plenty of touching and he captained the clip: “My friends!! Attention, attention. On all the social profiles of #BCLS (Facebook, Instagram and X) our voting cards have officially been released to support us in this episode! Just put a like on each one to overcome this week together!!️”

 

He told his followers to check his Instagram Story so they could vote for him and Giovanni was clearly very relaxed after putting a very demanding 12 months behind him. It is coming up to a year since Amanda Abbington quit the BBC show – and his career was left on a knife-edge after accusations about his treatment of her.

After an investigation by the BBC, six of the 17 allegations made by Amanda were upheld and Giovanni was pleased that the most serious claims were dismissed. A source close to the dancer has revealed that for the past six months or more, Giovanni has faced a number of difficult moments as he defended his names against the allegations made by actress Amanda, when they were partnered in the 2023 series of Strictly.

Amanda Abbington and Giovanni Pernice
Next week marks a year since Amanda Abbington quit Strictly 
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(Image: BBC))
He may now be living in Rome, but it is not the last Britain has seen of him. Gio is set to appear on Channel 4 show Celebrity Hunted, in which showbiz stars must go on the run and remain undetected for 28 days while a team of experts try to find and capture them

Giovanni, 34, had filmed his turn on the show back in 2022 but the tape was shelved after actress Amanda accused him of bullying, and sparked the BBC probe. Gio and his pal, Strictly judge and veteran Anton Du Beke, last week announced a theatre tour, The Last Dance, running from January into May.

Giovanni was cleared of violence and physical abuse by the BBC investigation, with the final report stating that investigators did not find he had acted in an intimidating manner nor made threats. What it did find were what it called instances of “inappropriate behaviour of sexual banter in the workplace”- and “belittling, dismissive and insulting” language including swear words.