Alert – All the feud ‘rumours’ Giovanni Pernice has faced during his Strictly Come Dancing career

Giovanni Pernice has been a professional on Strictly Come Dancing since 2015 and has gone far on the BBC contest ever since.

The Italian dancer, 33, soared to the final on his first year on the show with Georgia May Foote and once again won with Rose Ayling-Ellis.

However, his time on the show has not always been smooth-sailing as he has also found himself becoming embroiled in feud rumours with some of his dance partners.

Laura Whitmore admitted she felt ‘uncomfortable’ dancing with Giovanni so soon after his break-up with her pal Georgia.

And here, takes a look at all the feud rumours Giovanni has faced during his Strictly career.

AMANDA ABBINGTON

Giovanni left Strictly’s competition early this year when his Amanda Abbington unfortunately had to drop out for ‘medical reasons’.

However, Giovanni did not ‘like’ or comment on actress Amanda’s statement about her sudden departure from the BBC ballroom dance contest, with Amanda failing to mention Giovanni in her post.

A number of other professionals and celebrities left their well wishes in the comments section but Giovanni, who is still featured in this year’s ensemble, failed to engage with Amanda’s post.

Thanking her team, but failing to mention Giovanni, Amanda wrote on Instagram: ‘It is with deepest regret that I had to leave Strictly. I did not come to this decision easily or lightly but for personal reasons I am unable to continue.

‘It was an absolute joy working with my fellow contestants, they are a beautiful, hardworking and talented group of people who I love and who I will miss seeing every Friday and Saturday and competing alongside.

‘I want to thank the incredible Production team and everyone on Strictly who looked after me and who are so kind and caring. It’s a wonderful bunch of people and I’ll miss all of them.

‘I’m so sad that I am unable to go any further. Thank you to everyone who voted and who sent wonderful messages and inspiring support. You are all amazing. Truly. Thank you. xxx.’

Amanda withdrew from the competition after missing the show before her official departure for ‘medical reasons’.

Amanda’s exit was confirmed on the Strictly spin-off show It Takes Two with a statement that read: ‘Amanda Abbington is unable to continue in Strictly Come Dancing and has decided to withdraw from the competition. The show wishes her all the best for the future.’

A montage of Amanda’s best moments on the series was shown, before host Fleur East added: ‘Amanda, we are sending you all of our love.’

After the news was announced, Giovanni took to his Instagram to share a backstage photo with Amanda during Movie Week.

Captioning the snap, he wrote: ‘Amanda ..I am so sad we can’t continue but I am proud of what we achieved and I am sending you so much love’.

It followed rumours that the pair were said to have been at loggerheads for weeks,  however Amanda later hit back at the claims in an impassioned social media post.

Following the rumours, Amanda took to Instagram to rubbish the rumours in a swearing-filled rant.

In the video, shared ahead of the first live show of the series, Amanda told how she was ‘ignoring the bulls***’ and insisted things were good between her and Giovanni.

Seemingly addressing the feud claims, she said: ‘Ignoring the bulls***, because clearly people are t****.’

She went on: ‘Just stop it, stop it, grow up. No one gives a s***. Shut up, it’s b****cks, so f*** off.’

Amanda also said ‘who cares what other people think’ as she told how there was a ‘life lesson’ in the message.

LAURA WHITMORE

Laura Whitmore admitted that she felt ‘extremely uncomfortable’ being partnered with Giovanni on the BBC ballroom competition in 2016.

Laura previously told how she didn’t enjoy her time on Strictly with Giovanni, leaving the competition in week seven feeling ‘broken’ and admitting she ‘cried every day’.

She wasn’t happy about being paired with her close pal Georgia May Foote’s ex not long after the pair had split.

Former Coronation Street actress Georgia – who had fallen for Giovanni when they were paired together on Strictly in 2015, only to split the following summer – was still feeling heartbroken at the time and Laura inadvertently found herself ‘in the middle of someone’s break-up’.

Writing for The Huffington Post, Laura said: ‘I love dancing – I topped the leaderboard twice – but I was thrown into the middle of a break-up that had nothing to do with me. Once again, I was a “rumoured love interest”.

‘I was placed with a dance partner I was extremely uncomfortable with – and in the end I felt broken, I cried every day. And I really was broken, both mentally and physically, by the end.’

MICHELLE VISAGE

Michelle Visage was partnered with Giovanni for the 2019 series of Strictly Come Dancing, but the dancer confessed they did argue on the show.

Speaking after their departure from the show, he said: ‘We laugh, we cry, we fight and we argue and we’ve done everything but I’ve loved every single second.’ 

When rumours there was friction between the pair first surfaced during their time on the show, Michelle took to social media to dismiss them.  

‘The articles about my partner and I have been upsetting,’ she posted in statement. ‘If any of you know us, you know how close Giovanni and I are.

‘Gio is my best friend in this competition, he is my rock and I trust him with everything. We have the most fun and laughs together and to suggest anything else is just sad. 

‘At this very moment, we are focusing on Blackpool and we are SO excited to share our magical dance with all of you!’