Kate Garraway thinks Giovanni Pernice will be “deeply missed” if he leaves ‘Strictly Come Dancing’.

Kate Garraway thinks Giovanni Pernice will be 'deeply missed' if he leaves Strictly Come Dancing

Kate Garraway thinks Giovanni Pernice will be 'deeply missed' if he leaves Strictly Come Dancing

The 33-year-old professional performer was rumoured to have exited the BBC show due to his feud with previous dance partners like Amanda Abbingdon, 52 - who branded him a bully for his intense training methods during her time on the programme - and the ‘Good Morning Britain’ presenter, 57, has now paid tribute to the “great” Giovanni.

Speaking to her co-host Rob Rinder on the ITV show, she said: “He was great on the show and people love him.”

Kate had appeared on the BBC show in 2007 where she was partnered up with Giovannni’s close friend Anton du Beke.

The broadcaster added she had “loved” watching their TV outings together, such as their new BBC travel programme ‘Anton and Giovanni's Adventures in Spain’.

She added: “Giovanni and Anton are great friends and I've loved watching those shows as well.”

Last night (16.05.24), it was revealed Giovanni’s future on ‘Strictly’ was uncertain after the dancer became jaded with the “scrutiny” he had faced for the allegations made against him, and wanted to turn his attention to other shows instead.

A friend of the performers told The Sun: “Gio feels the scrutiny on him has become too much, and now is the time to make a fresh start.

“He wants to focus on other TV projects, and feels he’s achieved all he can on Strictly, having won the trophy back in 2021 and reaching the final an unprecedented four times.”

They added: “He remains adamant he’s done nothing wrong other than being a hard taskmaster but knows his style of training isn’t to everyone’s liking — especially in this day and age. He has a lot of other exciting projects in the pipeline right now, and he’s just super-excited to get cracking on them. This, now, is his priority.”

The BBC have since released a statement in which their neither confirmed nor denied Giovanni’s exit from the show.

In the statement, a spokesperson for the company said: “The professional dancers for 2024 will be announced in due course.”

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