NO-AMORE
Inside Giovanni Pernice’s string of stormy romances – from ‘blind-siding’ Maura Higgins to blazing rows with TOWIE star
HE'S quit Strictly after trouble with ex-partners - and it seems it's the same off the dancefloor too for Giovanni Pernice.
We exclusively revealed the Strictly pro has told pals he's quitting the show after starting negotiations for a new series.
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The BBC was said to be “very keen” to continue working with Giovanni, 33 — who has faced allegations over his tough training methods from previous celebrity partners, including actress Amanda Abbington.
And an internal memo of this year’s professional dancers for the show has been circulated without his name.
His shock move comes after The Sun first revealed tensions between the dancer and Sherlock star Amanda, 52, his celeb partner last year.
She quit in October after a series of bust-ups which left her in tears.
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And Giovanni hasn't been much luckier in love either.
Since joining Strictly in 2015, Giovanni has dated a string of sizzling women, with all of his public romances involving gushing posts and PDAs on social media.
While he recently started dating stunning model Molly Brown, the Sicilian native's track record on romance has not been a rosy one.
So what's going wrong for Giovanni? Here we take a look at his failed romances and rumoured flings with some of showbusiness' most glamorous ladies.
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Molly Brown
Giovanni revealed he was dating 24-year-old model Molly Brown in February.
Molly shared a picture alongside the pro dancer, which she captioned "Amore Mio," which means "My love" in Italian.
If I wasn’t with Ola I’d have bedded more women than Giovanni, says James Jordan
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A source told The Mirror: "Giovanni and Molly met a few weeks ago, and though it is very early days, things seem to be going well between them.
"He has been keeping things quiet because he didn't want too much pressure on as they're getting to know each other."
Last month, Giovanni denied he and Molly were engaged when she was seen sporting an impressive piece of jewellery on her wedding ring finger.
Jowita Przystał
The Sun revealed in December 2022 that dancer Giovanni and Polish pro Jowita Przystal, both 33, had during filming.
Jive specialist Giovanni was rumoured to have made a move on Jowita as they spent time together backstage.
However, the pair's relationship didn't go the distance and they reportedly called it quits just three months later, due to ";hectic work schedules".
With Giovanni being on tour, sources said creating time for one another became "impossible," and they parted ways.
Maura Higgins
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Before Jowita, Giovanni got together with former Love Island star Maura Higgins.
The couple teased their romance for weeks before finally going public with a loved up picture on Maura's Instagram captioned "I'm yours" in July 2021.
It was just two months after Maura's split from her Love Island co-star ex Christopher Taylor.
They were pictured out together in Blackpool and Maura attended the launch night of his show.
It all seemed to be going so well, as Maura and Giovanni opted to move in together to make seeing each other around his hectic Strictly schedule easier.
A source even claimed Gio had "never felt like this about anyone before".
But things appeared to quickly turn sour, with Giovanni ending their relationship just four months later, leaving Maura "blind-sided".
Their split came after heart-to-heart talks, during which the dancer admitted he "isn't ready to settle down".
A source told The Sun at the time: "It's all over for now. Maura's absolutely devastated, it appears the Strictly curse has struck again.
“Maura didn’t see this coming and is finding it very difficult to come to terms with. She genuinely thought Gio was the one.”
Ashley Roberts
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Giovanni and Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts had a series of secret dates after meeting on Strictly in 2018 - though Ashley was partnered with Gorka Marquez.
Once again Giovanni posted a bunch of loved up snaps on social media and gushed about his latest squeeze.
He seemed serious about the singer as he flew to have Christmas with her and her family in the USA.
Captioning one snap on Instagram, he wrote: "I never thought anyone would ever make me smile, laugh and steal my heart as fast as you did!! I love you amore."
But after 14 months together the pair called it quits and deleted all trace of each other from social media.
Giovanni announced their split on his social media and insisted the pair would stay friends.
Jessica Wright
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Giovanni dated Jessica after they allegedly met through her brother Mark when he was on the show.
He was first linked to the ex-TOWIE star in November 2017 when they were seen enjoying a theatre date in the West End.
Once again he posted a series of loved up snaps on social media, but they parted ways six months later.
Shortly before their split the pro dancer claimed he wanted to settle down.
He said: "Of course I want to settle, darling, I’m Italian. I want to have a big family, it’s just not the time. I’m 27 years old - I really want to dance as much as I can.”
At the time sources claimed Giovanni was struggling to cope with Jess' level of fame.
But their break-up appeared to turn bitter when the pair were spotted rowing at the Pride of Britain awards in 2018.
Jess later insisted their argument was just "passion" and that the couple hadn't seen each other since their split.
Chance to shine solo
NEWS to make a million housewives’ hearts break; but the right news.
After months of fevered speculation concerning his “vigorous” training methods, Giovanni Pernice has cut his losses, and quit the show that made him a household name. (And, as mentioned, a housewives’ favourite).
Frankly, Gio’s position on Strictly had become untenable.
One unhappy celebrity partner is unlucky. Four is unacceptable.
By all accounts, away from the dance floor, Giovanni is nice chap.
Certainly, he was, for many years, a hugely popular figure behind the scenes.
But since Amanda Abbington very publicly quit the show, citing “private medical reasons”- which she later elaborated was PTSD, from the stress of training up to 10 hours a day with Gio - his popularity with fellow pros is understandably on the wane.
No-one wants to be associated with a headline-stealing taskmaster, one who makes his partners cry.
In his defence, Giovanni is a passionate Sicilian, one who grew up in dance schools where crying through exhaustion was the norm. This was his norm.
But in 2024, on a glossy, Saturday night celebrity dance show, this isn’t normal.
He’s an incredibly good-looking, charming and talented performer - he has already been flooded with “exciting TV offers”.
This, then, is Gio’s cha-cha-chance to shine, solo, and win over a whole new legion of fans… not just the housewives.
Georgia May Foote
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Giovanni started dating Georgia in 2015 after they were paired together on Strictly Come Dancing.
When she joined the show she was dating Coronation Street co-star Sean Ward but they split just before she made the final.
Giovanni confirmed their romance after the show ended and the pair posted a series of loved-up snaps.
At the time Georgia told the Daily Mail: "Gio is everything to me. I'm 100 per cent happy with Gio. He's smitten and I'm the same. We trust each other. We fell in love as friends before anything happened."
But their romance didn't go the distance and they split in 2016 with both parties claiming there was no one else involved.
Georgia issued a statement on Twitter which read: "Although it was not an easy decision to make sometimes you realise that it is better to be friends and this is one of those times.
"We both have very busy work schedules for the rest of the year so we are both going to focus on our upcoming work projects and we wish each other well in the future."
Katie McGlynn
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Giovanni was linked to Corrie star Katie McGlynn in 2017 which got tongues wagging again when she signed up for Strictly four years later.
Their alleged romance came just after Giovanni split from Georgia but Katie has denied it.
She said: "I was quite upset about it because I'd not done anything. It was blown up out of all proportion. We weren't dating.
"I don't think he's my type. I'm sure he's lovely but that's why I was surprised with the stories. People were clutching at straws.
"Nothing happened. I've met him, it was at an awards party and people just decided we were dating because we were seen talking."
Luba Mushtuk
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Giovanni was rumoured to be dating fellow pro Luba Mushtuk after she posted a video of them dancing captioned "@pernicegiovann1 you are 'My Man'".
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It's been alleged that the pair dated in 2017 but Luba has publicly denied it.
She posted a headline about their relationship and claimed "I had no idea."
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