Strictly star Giovanni Pernice’s found love with new girlfriend after ‘difficult’ year

, 34, who left the UK show after a “bullying” row over his treatment of celebrity partner, Amanda Abbington, recently triumphed in the Italian version of the hit series.

He has also fallen head over heels for his new partner, TV star Bianca Guaccero. But he has made London his home and admits UK’s Strictly is very close to his heart.

“I would love to go back to Strictly because Strictly changed my life. It is a massive show, but I don’t think they’re going to have me back. They’re not.

“I think they have closed the book on that,” he told a Sunday newspaper. “I’m upset …It’s been a great, great, great ten years. I achieved everything. But it’s not my choice, it’s not my decision. Everybody has moved on.”

In many ways he includes himself in that, having picked up the glitter ball equivalent on Italian TV’s ‘Ballando Con Le Stelle’- without changing his training style.

“I have won twice,” he grins. “I won a show, and I have a girlfriend. It’s amazing, it felt unbelievable. I am still doing what I used to do because it’s the same show. I think we deserved the win.

“It was a very difficult year for me so that was the cherry on the cake at the end with the celebrations.” He added: “The whole thing made me question everything, but I didn’t change for the show in Italy, and I won that, so this is what I think is right.

“Maybe the approach could be different, but then when you end up doing the same show in a different country and win the show… I have found the answer everyone has been searching for.”

Bianca – who at 44 is ten years his senior- is Giovanni’s first partner since the allegations around 52-year-old Amanda surfaced.

She bowed out after six weeks of the 2023 series, citing “personal reasons” and later made a string of 17 complaints against Pernice, six of which were upheld including that he used “belittling language”.

He was suspended while the investigation took place and eventually left the show completely, while the apologised to Abbington.

But Giovanni says his new love has helped rebuild his confidence with the opposite sex – on a professional and a personal level. And he’s so smitten he hasn’t ruled out marriage.

“We were so happy to be put together and she was supportive of me over the Amanda situation from the get-go. We built a friendship, we spent a lot of time together,” he said.

“Because of the show you get to know the person next to you quicker. After a month together, I felt ‘Actually I like you a bit more than that.”

He took her to dinner in Rome and one thing led to another….

“She said she felt safe with me. And I think this is what anybody wants as a man. This is what I want to hear: when your lady feels safe with you. She’s a beautiful human being and this is the real thing.”

The couple are currently navigating a long- distance relationship. While they celebrated New Year together in London, with dinner at the Ritz and a trio to Buckingham Palace, Bianca is back in Italy.

“She will come over when she can and I will go there when I can,” says Giovanni. “There is a lot of FaceTime in between, which isn’t ideal, but it is lovely.”

It’s a far cry from the traumas of last year, which he describes as “a very bad dream”.

“It was a difficult year, but I managed to get through it. And when I saw that trophy in Rome, I knew I had got through it.

“I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s important to remember that.” It’s also made him tougher, he says.

“I had to be,” he said. “My parents worried so much. They are so happy now and so relieved it’s over.

“People ask how I kept going. The truth is I had to. It was hard but I have faith. I believe in God. I knew what I did, and I just had to wait until the thing finished.”

But Giovanni’s UK career isn’t over. He is busy rehearsing for a new tour, The Last Dance, which starts today (Monday) and ends on May 4 at The London Palladium – where the late Strictly presenter Sir Bruce Forsyth’s ashes are buried.

He believes his British fans saved him. So much so, he has dedicated a whole section of his show to them. “It’s heartening when people see through these things and they actually support you,” he says.

“I think what is nice is the fact that people, after ten years of my career, know who Giovanni is. They have always been there supporting me.”

“I want everyone to know how grateful I am,” he said. “I might not have Strictly in my life anymore, but I am performing at the Palladium.

“Sir Bruce Forsyth is under there. I can’t believe I am doing that.” Last Dance opens today (January 20) at the Wycombe Swan. For tickets go to .