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Laura Whitmore praises Giovanni Pernice, her Italian Joe Swash on Strictly

Georgia May Foote fell for his charms last year and now Laura is gushing over him

The Strictly curse is a well-known phenomena in which celebrities that enter the show in a loving relationship, come out the other end with that in tatters and their dance partner on their arm instead.

So, in theory, if you go in to the show young, free and single, then there should be no problem if romance blossoms.

There is a feeling of déjà vu though as Laura Whitmore starts gushing about her professional dance partner Giovanni Pernice.

During the 2015 series of the BBC dance competition, Giovanni fell in to a passionate affair with former Corrie actress Georgia May Foote.

She dumped her soap co-star Sean Ward to run off in the arms of Giovanni after they almost won the competition.

Just weeks before this year’s Strictly began, Georgia and Giovanni were no more and she feared for Laura, if she was paired up with him.

So, Georgia will probably see similarities with her own situation as Laura reveals how she’s getting on with the “lovely” Giovanni.

Writing for Glamour online, Laura admitted her joy at being with the Italian dancer.

She wrote: “I like to call him Gio Gio [Joe Joe]. Gio is so talented, and when I saw him last year I thought he was one of the best dancers and best choreographers in the whole show.

“I’m a feisty Irish lady, and he’s a feisty Italian guy so it should be interesting.”

After spending five years presenting I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! spin-off show, there was only one person Laura looked to compare Giovanni too… her former co-host Joe Swash.

She explained: “[Joe and I] worked brilliantly together but also had full blown arguments.

“We hugged each other when we were sad and encouraged each other when we were unsure or worried.

“Gio is my Italian Joe Swash.”

We are sure ‘Gio’ must be well chuffed and look forward to seeing whether Laura will dance her way to the Glitterball Trophy under his tutelage.


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor