Strictly Come Dancing’s Giovanni Pernice has confessed to experiencing “dark times” as he feared his career was over amid the recent bullying allegations. As he makes his comeback on television tomorrow night (Sunday, January 5) in Celebrity Hunted on Channel 4, with fellow dancer Kai Widdrington, Giovanni reflects on the troubling period following his dance partner Amanda Abbington’s abrupt exit from Strictly last year.
The BBC’s inquiry into Amanda’s claims of Giovanni being “abusive” substantiated six out of 17 accusations against him, but cleared him of physical abuse charges. The 34 year old Italian dancer countered by saying that while he was disciplined, he never crossed into bullying.
Determined to move past last year’s challenges, Giovanni remarked to the Sunday Mirror: “I’m not going to lie, there were dark moments in terms of, you know, this is finished, this is the end of my career. That was one of my down moments. Sorry for my language but 2024 can f*** off. I’ve been looking forward to seeing the back of it.”
Read more
He added in reflection of the aftermath that followed Abbington’s complaints: “Even with that I was like, I need to be a better man. I have to.”
The BBC issued an apology to Amanda in September after acknowledging incidents of verbal bullying and harassment, reports the Mirror. In reflections on past controversies, the dancer shared: “Every time she came out with another interview I was always maintaining a calm inside.
“Trust me, it wasn’t easy, there were dark times. But I know what I did – that kept me calm, because I knew the truth from the beginning. I was expecting and waiting that all of this would finish and come back with the results that I wanted it to be. I know what the truth is, I know who I am, so you just wait and move on with life.”
The ordeal, he feels, has only toughened him up. He remarks: “After last year where everything happened, I decided to take life day by day because you never know what is going to happen, things can change in a moment. And then after being down there is only one way up. And you come back fighting and even stronger, you try to find better solutions.”
His resilience echoes triumph; Giovanni clinched victory in the 19th series of Strictly alongside EastEnders star Rose Ayling-Ellis, now 30, two seasons before the bullying allegation emerged. The dancer credits his success to a natural competitive streak, explaining: “Competitiveness, you know, it’s what I do for a living. I was born that way, so I’ve got that competitiveness in me and nobody will ever take it out of me, whatever I do.
“If I’m on the run, if I’m on a dance show, if I playing cards with my mates, you know, if there is a competition, I’m there. That’s what keeps me going when I face any adversity in my life. I have to think positively. Since the age of seven I started to compete in dance competitions. Everything I do, I always find a solution or a way to make it work. I just think I am built that way. I built myself that way.”
He’s bringing this competitive spirit to Celebrity Hunted, where celebrities including Loose Women’s Denise Welch, pop star Duncan James, and news anchor Simon McCoy try to evade capture from former police officers. Giovanni adds: “It’s exciting to be back on British TV, it’s been a while. I took it very, very serious – that’s what I do. I took everything very serious and that, you know, ends up to be my problem in general.”
Viewers are in for a treat as they witness Giovanni Pernice’s mischievous tactics on the show when he personally delivers a pizza to the Hunters’ HQ. He divulges: “As always, I was making history! I said, ‘What has never happened in all these series of Hunted? ‘ And no one has ever turned up at their door.
“It’s never happened before, something like this. I was like, ‘I want to be memorable. So let’s go to their place for once’. So I had a special pizza made up and delivered it myself to their place with a note. That was so much fun. I can’t wait to see how they reacted to that.”
Fresh from winning the Italian Strictly in December and sparking a romance with his dance partner, singer-actress Bianca Guaccero, 43, Giovanni’s stars are aligning. Apart from featuring on Hunted, he is also geared up for a UK tour and is thrilled to be performing live again. He said: “I can’t wait to reconnect with Mother Nature, which is my UK fan base, because they’ve been supportive all the way through and I’ve missed them.”
His upcoming shows carry an emotional weight as Giovanni shares: “It’s going to be so emotional when I get back on stage in front of them again, and even more emotion is the fact that this is my last tour. I need a break, darling. I’m 35 years old. I’ve been doing this for 10 years.”
Giovanni Pernice, known for his dazzling performances on Strictly Come Dancing, is contemplating a career shift towards acting. He shared his aspirations, saying: “That’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but obviously English is not my first language, so we have to see. I need to go to English school first of all to learn English properly. And I like to sing too, so maybe some singing lesson to improve my singing.”
Fans can catch more of Giovanni as Celebrity Hunted airs on Sunday, January 5 at 9pm on Channel 4. Additionally, his tour, ‘The Last Dance’, kicks off on January 20 and will be touring nationwide – tickets are available at Giovannipernice.com.