Giovanni strictly
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Strictly star Giovanni Pernice is the ‘real’ winner of this year’s series

He's been handed an accolade ahead of Saturday

Strictly Come Dancing pro Giovanni Pernice has been handed quite the accolade ahead of this weekend’s final.

The star, who is partnered with EastEnders actress Rose Ayling-Ellis, is favourite to lift the Glitter Ball this Saturday night (December 19).

However, ahead of that Gio has also been crowned the show’s most popular professional dancer.

Giovanni strictly
The hunky dancer is the real winner of this year’s series when it comes to the fans (Credit: Splash News)

Strictly pro Giovanni Pernice named most popular dancer

According to new research by casino experts Casino Bee, Giovanni is one popular guy.

With his dating history, we all know he’s a hit with the ladies.

Read more: OPINION – Why Rose and Giovanni are the ONLY winners of Strictly this year

And it seems Strictly fans on social media have also fallen for his charms.

The dancer has gained a whopping 217,001 followers since the first live show of series 18 of Strictly Come Dancing back in September.

The study analysed the Instagram profile of each Strictly Come Dancing professional and used social media marketing tools to discover who won the “influencer Glitter Ball”.

And good old Gio came out on top.

He began the series with 476k followers and will end the series with 217,001 new followers – an overall increase of 45.58%.

Giovanni strictly
Giovanni has been paired with Rose during this series of Strictly (Credit: BBC)

Who else is hot Instagram property?

Coming in second place – and perhaps a premonition for Saturday night – is new pro Kai Widdrington.

Despite being one of the newest pro dancers, Kai has gained 139,574 followers since the first live show of the series, where he was paired with AJ Odudu.

Read more: Ex Strictly pro Ian Waite cracks joke about actress Rose Ayling-Ellis

This is a 700% increase, making him the second most popular dancer after Gio.

A rep said: “Each episode of Strictly Come Dancing is viewed by millions and gives an enormous amount of exposure.”

They added this was “not just to the celebrities but also the professionals”.

The spokesperson continued to say that it “increases opportunities for the dancers outside of the Strictly season”.

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The Strictly Come Dancing final is on Saturday (December 19) at 7pm on BBC One.

Will you be watching? Head to our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and tell us.


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor