Strictly Come Dancing professional Giovanni Pernice – who is on Celebrity Hunted this weekend (January 19) – is often in the headlines – most notably for his love life.
So which of his dancer partners has Giovanni dated? Just what happened with Maura Higgins? And who is he seeing now?
All you need to know and more here…
Strictly Come Dancing pro Giovanni Pernice: Who is he dating?
Gio joined the show in 2015 and was partnered with ex-Corrie actress Georgia May Foote, who went on to become his girlfriend.
She was dating her co-star Sean Ward when she signed up to the show and confirmed their split and her romance with Gio before reaching the final of the 2015 series.
At the time, she said: “Gio is everything to me. I’m 100% happy with Gio.
“He’s smitten and I’m the same. We trust each other.
“We fell in love as friends before anything happened.”
However, it wasn’t to be and the couple split in 2016.
Strictly Come Dancing pros Giovanni Pernice and Luba Mushtuk linked
Gio went on to date Jessica Wright for six months and was linked to fellow Strictly Come Dancing pro Luba Mushtuk.
In November 2017, she fuelled dating rumours when she posted a video of the pair dancing to social media.
She captioned it: “@pernicegiovann1 you are my man,” alongside a winking face emoji.
However, Giovanni was quick to dismiss the rumours as he tweeted: “Another day another lady!!! So funny to read!! Who will be next!!”
Molly Brown and Giovanni
Giovanni and Molly Brown went public with their romance in February 2024, before reports emerged that they had split just weeks later.
The couple later reunited and their relationship looked to be going strong ever since – documented with a string of smitten posts shared on social media.
However, in July reports claimed “stress” had torn the couple apart.
A source alleged to The Mirror: “Giovanni and Molly grew very close, very quickly, after they split up the first time and got back together. Their relationship has been pretty full-on. But they have rowed again recently and it all came to a head earlier this week, when they called it quits.”
When Gio met Pussycat Doll Ashley
Giovanni met girlfriend Ashley Roberts in 2018, when she signed up to compete in Strictly.
They weren’t partnered – he was with Faye Tozer and she was with Pasha Kovalev.
But sparks clearly flew behind the scenes.
They confirmed their romance at the end of the year, before embarking on the Strictly tour.
Ashley admitted: “Yes we are seeing each other. And now the show is done we can spend a bit more time together. We’re getting to know each other, and it’s nice.”
However, that also wasn’t to be, with the couple announcing their split in January 2020.
Maura Higgins and Giovanni
Pro dancer Giovanni has also dated I’m A Celeb star Maura Higgins.
They put rumours about them to rest by going Instagram official in July 2021. The Italian dancer was all over Maura’s Instagram and they couldn’t keep their hands off each other.
However, Giovanni’s tight schedule came in the way of their romance, prompting Maura to “take a step back” so he could focus on the show.
A source told The Sun following their break-up: “It’s all over for now. Maura’s absolutely devastated, it appears the Strictly curse has struck again.”
No sooner, Maura deleted all love-dovey posts with her dancer ex and supposedly unfollowed him on Instagram.
Strictly pro Giovanni linked to Katie McGlynn
Corrie star Katie was linked to Gio back in 2017, shortly after his split from her Corrie co-star Georgia May Foote.
At the time, Katie played down rumours of a romance, admitting: “They were trying to make it look like I was trying to have her boyfriend and I really wasn’t, even though they weren’t together any more, just because he’d dated another Corrie actress at some point.
“I was quite upset about it because I’d not done anything. It was blown up out of all proportion.”
However, eagle-eyed Strictly fans have apparently noticed that Katie has followed all the pro dancers on social media – except Giovanni.
The celebrities usually get allocated their partners in September, with viewers finding out who is with who in the live launch show.
Jowita Przystał
Like many before her, Jowita Przystał reportedly found love on Strictly with fellow pro Giovanni.
Jowita and Giovanni were reported to be dating back in 2022, after apparently being spotted kissing backstage by production staff. An insider was said to have described them as Strictly 2022’s “worst kept secret”.
These relationship rumours also reportedly “devastated” Jowita’s dance partner Hamza. Reports claimed that the photographer had been quietly “besotted” with her.
However, by spring 2023 the couple had reportedly called it quits due to both of them having “hectic work schedules”.
Bianca Guaccero
Dancer Giovanni is currently dating Italian actress Bianca Guaccero.
Giovanni and Bianca seemingly made their relationship official on Ballando con le Stelle: the Italian version of Strictly Come Dancing that they ended up winning.
TV star Giovanni and Bianca share an age gap of nine years. Bianca is now 43. She was previously married to the Italian film director, Dario Acocella, from 2013 to 2017.
What’s more, Giovanni recently dropped a major marriage bombshell, revealing: “If we win the show, I’ll seriously think about it [asking Bianca to marry him].”
He already paid tribute to her, with the pair getting matching tattoos just weeks into their relationship – so it seems he’s in it for the long haul!
Watch Giovanni on Celebrity Hunted on Sunday (January 5) at 9:00pm on Channel 4.
So what do you think of this story? You can leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know.