Giovanni Pernice posts one-week countdown for Strictly Come Dancing reunion amid show return

Giovanni Pernice has shared a one-week countdown as he prepares for a Strictly Come Dancing reunion. The Italian dancer wasn't invited back to the ballroom for the BBC dance contest's 2024 series amid a probe into his teaching methods on the show.

An investigation was launched by the BBC following allegations made about Giovanni by former Strictly participant Amanda Abbington, with the results yet to be made public.

Giovanni has since announced he is joining the Italian "equivalent of Dancing With The Stars" following his departure from the UK's popular dance contest. In a message posted on Instagram earlier this month, the 34-year-old announced he would be appearing on Ballando con le Stelle, saying he was "excited" to be back on the dancefloor.

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But amidst his return to screens, albeit in Italy, with his new celebrity dance partner, actress and singer Bianca Guaccero, Giovanni is actually preparing for a reunion with some of his Strictly colleagues.

It was back in July that the dancer revealed judges Motsi Mabuse and Craig Revel Horwood will be joining him at a dance class put on by his company Ballando, which sees him hosting dance classes for anyone from beginners to the more experienced.

A post on the Ballando Instagram page at the time said: "29th September. Well … it wouldn’t be fair to only have 2 of the judges would it [winking face emoji]. "o excited to announce that none other than @craigrevel and @motsimabuse will be joining us for an afternoon of dance fun on the 29th September!"

And with the event fast approaching, Giovanni reshared a post on Sunday (September 22) from the Ballando Instagram account which featured a countdown and the message: "1 week! Last few spaces available!"

The update comes after Strictly's first live show aired on Saturday night (September 21). The first episode of the 22nd series of Strictly actually aired the previous weekend and saw epic performances from the show's talented group of professional dancers but all eyes were on finding out which celebrity had been paired with which pro.

However, it was over the weekend that the competition really got underway as all 15 of the new Strictly couples performed together for the first time before reciging their first set of judges' comments and scores.