Exclusive:
Former Strictly Come Dancing star Giovanni Pernice has revealed to the Sunday Mirror that he’s considering a huge career change away from the dancefloor
Giovanni Pernice has revealed he’s keen to step away from the dancefloor for another career.
The professional dancer was axed by BBC Strictly Come Dancing bosses last year following allegations that he was “unnecessary, abusive, cruel and mean” towards actress Amanda Abbington. He denied all of the claims. But a year on, Giovanni has reflected on the claims which saw him head into a “dark time.”
Now though, it looks as though the glitterballs and dancefloors could be cast to the back of his mind as he hopes to turn his hand to acting. He exclusively told the Sunday Mirror: “That’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but obviously English is not my first language, so we have to see. I need to go to English school first of all to learn English properly.
“And I like to sing too, so maybe some singing lesson to improve my singing.” But it won’t be happening any time soon – instead, Giovanni is taking part in Channel 4’s Celebrity Hunted. He’ll appear on the show alongside Loose Women’s Denise Welch, 66, and her husband Lincoln Townley, 52, pop star Duncan James, 46, and model Christine McGuinness, 36, podcasters David “Sideman” Whitely, 33, and Zeze Millz, 35, soap actresses Danielle Harold, 32, and Kimberly Hart-Simpson, 38, and news anchors Simon McCoy, 63, and Lucrezia Millarini, 48.
Giovanni says: “It’s exciting to be back on British TV, it’s been a while. I took it very, very serious – that’s what I do. I took everything very serious and that, you know, ends up to be my problem in general.” Viewers will also get to see his cheeky side when he decides to take the fight to the Hunters by personally delivering a pizza to their HQ.
He reveals: “As always, I was making history! I said, ‘What has never happened in all these series of Hunted?’ And no one has ever turned up at their door. It’s never happened before, something like this. I was like, ‘I want to be memorable. So let’s go to their place for once’. So I had a special pizza made up and delivered it myself to their place with a note. That was so much fun. I can’t wait to see how they reacted to that.”
As well as Hunted, he is off on a UK tour – and is excited to get back in front of a live crowd. He says: “I can’t wait to reconnect with Mother Nature, which is my UK fan base, because they’ve been supportive all the way through and I’ve missed them.” The shows will be bittersweet for both Giovanni and his fans – as he reveals they will be his last.
He says: “It’s going to be so emotional when I get back on stage in front of them again, and even more emotion is the fact that this is my last tour. I need a break, darling. I’m 35 years old. I’ve been doing this for 10 years.”
- Celebrity Hunted starts tomorrow night at 9pm on Channel 4
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