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Strictly star Giovanni Pernice admits there’s ‘absolutely no way’ he’ll date Ranvir Singh

He's ruled out a romance between the pair

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Strictly Come Dancing’s Giovanni Pernice has ruled out a romance with his 2020 partner Ranvir Singh.

Gio and Good Morning Britain star Ranvir caused quite the stir as judges and viewers alike commented on their obvious chemistry.

However, speaking exclusively to Entertainment Daily, Strictly pro Gio has now revealed that he sees himself merely as an actor.

And, should the viewers and judges think there is a behind-the-scenes romance, then it means he’s done his job “perfectly”.

strictly star Giovanni
Giovanni caused quite a stir when he was partnered with Ranvir on Strictly (Credit: BBC)

What did Strictly star Giovanni say about Ranvir romance rumours?

Gio said the 2020 series was “quite a journey” with Ranvir.

“The way she developed and improved was remarkable. It was a nice late part of 2020 for me,” he sad.

Read more: Bruno Tonioli to be missing from Strictly panel again this year?

He also revealed that they are “absolutely” still in touch – and that he hopes they will meet up for a dance once lockdown is over.

“She fell in love with dancing. She said she wants to carry on dancing but we haven’t had the chance – with lockdown you can’t go anywhere.

“Maybe when all of this finishes we can carry on dancing,” he said.

So what did Giovani make of the Ranvir Strictly romance rumours?

“Every year there’s always a romance rumour with a different partner. I mean, even if you don’t have a partner there’s a rumour.

Read more: Viewers deliver verdict on Janette Manrara’s presenting debut

“The thing is you get very close when you dance with another person, but dancing is equal to acting. You have to deliver a performance. Each dance is a different story.

“If people at home or the judges think you have a great connection then it means my job, what I’m doing, is perfect. We deliver exactly what the dances require.

“Remember, we are actors,” he confirmed.

strictly ranvir on red carpet
Giovanni has ruled out romance with his last Strictly partner Ranvir Singh (Credit: Splash News)

So is there chance of love between Giovanni and Ranvir?

Sadly it appears not.

“No, no, no no no,” he told ED!.

“Again, I’m single, absolutely there’s no way. We are very very good friends,” he confirmed.

So do the romance rumours ever put Gio off his step?

Again, I’m single, absolutely there’s no way. We are very very good friends.

“Oh god no. I mean, Strictly is the biggest thing on television. Every time you get close in a rhumba or Argentine tango with your partner they try to make out a story.

“But again, the dance requires exactly that. So if they think that there is a romance, it means we are doing it absolutely right.

“We just focus on the steps and what the dance requires and the performance side of it.”

Giovanni and ranvir on strictly
Gio said he’s done his job as an ‘actor’ if people believe there is a romance (Credit: BBC)

Lack of studio audience was a good thing

Gio also revealed that the changes to last year’s show were actually a good thing in his eyes.

He said it wasn’t weird without a studio audience, just “different”.

“You have to see two different sides of the coin.

“Usually when you have all the guests in the studio, maybe some celebs can get distracted because their family members are in the audience.

“But not having an audience, they concentrate more on the performance. It wasn’t that bad, only because I’m a very strict teacher so I wanted Ranvir to concentrate all the way.”

Another thing viewers were concentrating on were Italian stallion Gio’s abs whenever he took to the floor in a slightly risqué outfit.

Does he ever check Twitter to see what social media is saying about him?

“I did last year because lots of people were messaging me saying you’re trending on Twitter and, first of all, I didn’t really know what that meant.

“Most of the time it was after the topless performance,” he laughed.

Gio added: “I don’t check it because it is always 50% in terms of people like your performance and people don’t like your performance.

“I always say it to my partner as well. It can’t be good for everybody. Some people like you, some people don’t.”

Poster

Complaints over pro’s Priscilla routine

One group dance that got a lot of reaction – most of it good, some of it bad – was the pro’s Priscilla Queen of the Desert routine.

“I loved that. I absolutely loved that. People really loved it,” Gio told us.

“And obviously the complaints, the people who complained about it are very stupid people because we are in 2021 in the sense of we try to put new things in the show.

“Doing something like Priscilla, which is a massive massive film and musical theatre show, I’m actually very proud of what we did.

“You see people like Johannes [Radebe] dancing that way and it is just remarkable. Me and Gorka [Marquez], we tried. We didn’t look anything like Johannes, but we tried.”

Gio obviously has the dressing up bug, as anyone on his TikTok will know.

The dancer and his pal Kai Widdrington recently dressed as Elsa and Anna from Frozen.

And, Gio revealed, that just before our exclusive chat he popped to his local Sainsbury’s in the costume!

“I went to Sainsbury’s dressed as Anna just now before this chat,” he said.

“It’s something that you do just to lift up yourself and laugh. The other shoppers just laughed,” he revealed.

“Elsa and Ana in Shoreditch, we went to Sainsbury’s and Costa,” he giggled.

“People didn’t recognise me in Sainsbury’s. I stayed like three minutes. I ran in, got what I needed and left quickly.”

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Learn to dance with Gio virtually

With the country still stuck in lockdown, Gio has taken it upon himself to lift the spirits of Strictly fans by offering virtual dance classes.

He has 1,000 people sign up to each class and recently taught them a Charleston set to the music that nabbed him his first-ever 40.

Gio, who was partnered with his ex-girlfriend Georgia May-Foote at the time, said the experience was “amazing”.

“It was absolutely fantastic. It was my first year on the show – and obviously I thought I was only going to be on the show a couple of weeks because I was the new kid.

“Then I danced with Georgia and we went right the way to the final. That Charleston, I’m a ballroom and Latin dancer, so Charleston wasn’t my strength and we got the 40.

“It was very rewarding as a performer. The first time is always amazing.”

So has Gio stayed in touch with his previous partners?

He still speaks to Michelle Visage all the time, and revealed that he can’t wait to see Debbie McGee again.

He might wait, however, to see Laura Whitmore – because he’s not very good with babies.

“I love Debbie, of course we’re in touch. When lockdown is finished I really can’t wait to meet all of them again.

“I want to see Michelle again, all these people I haven’t been able to see for a year. I can’t wait to see all of them again,” he said.

However, Gio added of Laura, who is expecting her first baby: “I’m not very good with babies, especially when they’re kids. I might meet the baby when it’s older.”

Anton du beke on strictly
Will Anton be back as a dancer or a judge this year? (Credit: BBC)

What’s next for Gio?

Next up, Gio is hoping to find out if his place on the 2021 show is secure.

“Hopefully I’ll be back on Strictly,” he told us.

“We will know at the end of March when they call us.”

Will Anton return, does Gio think, or should he take a seat on the judging panel instead?

“I think he knows what is best for him and the BBC know what is best for the show,” Gio said.

“He’s been with the show since the start, 18 years or something, they know exactly what to do and if it’s meant to be that he’s to be a judge then it will happen.

“He did a fantastic job as a judge last year and he’s still doing a great job as a dancer. Either way we still want to keep Anton on the show for sure.”

Giovanni is hosting exclusive dance classes on Instagram, Monday – Friday 5-6pm. Book now here or visit follow on Instagram @pernicegiovann1.

Would you have liked to have seen romance between Strictly star Giovanni and Ranvir? Head to our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know.


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor