Giovanni Pernice no doubt had his fans fuming after he cheekily kissed his Strictly Come Dancing co-star Shirley Ballas.
The Italian hunk, 32, is gearing up for the brand-new series of the glitzy BBC One show. Giovanni will be back on the dance floor with a celeb partner, where they’ll strut their stuff in a bid to be crowned champ.
But this week, Giovanni found time away from rehearsals to celebrate his Strictly co-star’s birthday. So much so, that he even planted one on her! Lucky Shirley!
Giovanni Pernice kisses Strictly co-star
Taking to his Instagram Story on Wednesday (September 6) Giovanni uploaded a video of himself cosying up next to Shirley Ballas.
It was a special day for the head judge of the show, who turned 63. In the video, Giovanni said: “So yesterday was my birthday but today is a big and better birthday.
“Because the Queen herself, the Queen herself,” he added as Shirley came into view. She then said: “It’s my birthday. Both virgos.”
She went on: “Both perfectionists. Both perfectionists who love each other.” Then Gio suddenly turned to Shirley and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Flustered, she gasped before giggling, as Gio said: “Beautiful. Happy birthday. I love you.”
Giovanni teases Strictly 2023 partner
It comes after Giovanni teased that he might have found who his Strictly 2023 partner is. With not long to go until the launch of the new series, the Italian dancer has shared his reaction to meeting the 2023 celebs taking part.
In a video posted to his Instagram story, Giovanni told his fans: “A quick update. So, just got back home. We met the celebs today…” He paused and couldn’t contain a big smile as he continued: “And I… yeah, I can’t wait for you to find out. I’m happy today. It’s a happy day.”
He was clearly over the moon as he continued to gush: “It’s nice when you have nice days, isn’t it? It feels like it’s regenerated. It’s lovely, it’s a lovely, lovely feeling and I’m just looking forward to having more of those. Happy days, happy days, happy days.”
Strictly fans predict Giovanni’s partner
Following Giovanni’s announcement, many Strictly fans took to social media to share their predictions over who he’s been paired up with. One eagle-eyed fan suggested he’s either dancing with Amanda Abbington or Zara McDermott as he recently followed both of them on Instagram.
Somebody else wants to see him with Angela Rippon in the hope that he might repeat the success he had with Debbie McGee in 2017.
Read more: Giovanni Pernice and Anton Du Beke strip ‘naked’ to promote big TV news: ‘Almost spat my tea out!’
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