Strictly pro Giovanni Pernice was the hot topic of conversation when his 2019 partner Michelle Visage appeared on This Morning recently.
Michelle – who appears on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune on March 3 – was on the daytime talk show with hosts Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond to discuss her new project, The Addams Family – The Musical Comedy.
In it, she plays Morticia, and has to dance a four-minute tango.
Host Alison asked if Michelle remembered any moves from Strictly Come Dancing, and Michelle admitted that she’s had dance lessons once a week ever since leaving the BBC series.
Michelle said: “I have danced once a week since I left the show.”
Surprised, Alison asked: “What do you do, go and meet with Giovanni?”
“No, he does not want to dance with me, he has his own tour,” Michelle laughed. “I have a teacher who I meet for two hours a week.”
However, the mention of Giovanni opened the door for Alison to ask about the recent Amanda Abbington scandal.
Michelle on Giovanni: ‘We fought every day’
“Talking of Giovanni, we’ve got to tackle these rumours that he’s quite a strict mentor…” Alison said.
“I don’t like gossip so I’m not here to gossip, but what I can say from my experience is yes he’s tough. He’s probably the toughest pro there is, but I wanted that,” Michelle said. “It depends, some people can handle that.”
We fought every day but it was for good reason because we got to where we wanted to be and it looked beautiful.
Dermot added: “It’s all about putting the right person with the right pro.”
“That’s it,” Michelle confirmed. “Some people don’t want that. I wanted that.”
She then added: “We fought every day but it was for good reason because we got to where we wanted to be and it looked beautiful.”
Giovanni Pernice and Michelle’s Strictly exit
Michelle and Giovanni exited in week eight, when the Strictly gang decamped to Blackpool. The paired ended up finishing in seventh place.
The show also gave Michelle some training for her theatre role. During Halloween week, she danced as Morticia Addams for a foxtrot to The Addams Family Theme. It was a dance that scored them a near-perfect 39 points from the judges.
Read more: Giovanni Pernice confirms new romance with model girlfriend as they go Instagram official
Celebrity Wheel of Fortune airs Sunday March 3 from 5pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
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