Giovanni Pernice's Strictly co-star has five-word reaction as dancer dropped from line-up
Speaking on Lorraine, a former Strictly Come Dancing star confirmed that Giovanni Pernice had been looking forward to the BBC show hitting a huge milestone before his exit was announced.
Lorraine: Giovanni Pernice was 'excited' for Strictly's 20th show
Former Strictly Come Dancing participant Tyler West has revealed Giovanni Pernice had been excited to celebrate the BBC show’s 20th anniversary. His comments come after the BBC did not mention the star’s name in the line-up of professional dancers for the 2024 series.
Speaking on ITV’s Lorraine, Tyler said: “The professional dancer’s line-up has been revealed and Giovanni’s name is not… He didn’t make the cut.
“It’s not known if he was sacked or whether he quit the show,” he added. “He’s been a firm favourite on the show for the last nine years.
“He’s also said he was [really] looking forward to the 20th anniversary,” Tyler said sadly. “It’s his dream job.
“But obviously, this is all following the reports that were made against him. He’s rejected and denied any complaints about ‘abusive or threatening behaviour’ while being a professional dancer on the show.
Giovanni is reportedly facing allegations about his behaviour during rehearsals from multiple former stars of the show, including Amanda Abbington, Ranvir Singh and Laura Whitmore.
Express.co.uk has previously reached out to Giovanni’s representatives and the BBC for comment.
“He obviously won it back with Rose-Ayling Ellis in 2021…” Tyler continued, to which host Lorraine Kelly replied: “That was very special.”
“It was such a special dance,” Tyler agreed. “So it’s all come as a bit of a shock.”
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Lorraine then turned to “much happier news”, as they celebrated Amy Dowden returning to the Strictly line-up.
The dancer was forced to miss out on being partnered with a celebrity last year, as she bravely battled breast cancer.
However, now she will be gracing our screens once more, alongside dancers like Katya Jones, Dianne Buswell, Gorka Marquez, Johannes Radebe, Karen Hauer, Jowita Przystal, and Neil Jones.
Also returning are Vito Coppola, Nikita Kuzmin, Graziano Di Prima, Kai Widdrington, Nadiya Bychkova, Carlos Gu, Nancy Xu, Luba Mushtuk, Lauren Oakley and Michelle Tsiakkas.
Lorraine airs weekdays from 9am on ITV and ITVX.
