Strictly Come Dancing star Giovanni Pernice enjoyed a cosy dinner with his former dance partner Rose Ayling-Ellis, weeks after his shock exit from the competition.
The pro dancer, 33, has left the competition after his partner Amanda Abbington quit over ‘personal reasons’.
He said at the time: ‘Amanda .. I am so sad we can’t continue but I am proud of what we achieved and I am sending you so much love.’
Giovanni has now shared a clip spending some quality time with his former Strictly partner, who he lifted the glitterball trophy with in 2021.
Taking to Instagram, Giovanni posted a video of him joking with Rose about her ‘smelly’ onion soup breath.
‘I tell you what you should do, you should drink that because you’ve got smelly breath, onion soup,’ he laughs at her.
Picking at some olives, Rose, 28, quips back: ‘It’s now olive breath!’
As the pair laugh it off, she hits back: ‘You’re making me look stupid!’
This comes after Strictly fans noticed Amanda failed to mention Giovanni when she broke her silence on quitting the show.
Citing ‘personal reasons’, the Sherlock actress called the experience of working with her fellow contestants ‘an absolute joy’ and praised the ‘incredible’ production team and ‘everyone on Strictly who looked after me and who are so kind and caring’.
However, she made no reference to Giovanni, reigniting rumours of a reported ‘feud’ between the pair.
Amanda’s rep since denied any talk of the star ‘snubbing’ Giovanni in her statement addressing her exit from Strictly.
They told Metro.co.uk of Amanda’s Instragram post: ‘She was inclusive of everyone involved in the show who helped make her appearance not only happen, but a success.
‘She loved everybody on the programme and did not want to leave anyone out. She is extremely grateful and wishes she could have continued.
‘Health comes first always,’ they added.
Former EastEnders actress Rose and Giovanni won the nation’s hearts during their Strictly stint in 2021, and also won a Bafta for the ‘Must-See Moment of the Year’ for their silent dance.
The pair performed their Couple’s Choice dance to Clean Bandit’s Symphony which included a moment when the music stopped and the room fell silent.
However, Rose recently admitted she ‘hated’ the idea initially.
‘I watched this pre-recorded video by external choreographers and immediately didn’t like what they’d come up with,’ she told The Guardian.
‘I was up for the idea, as long as it wasn’t a patronising stunt. An attempt to get the pity vote, all sad, dreary and “poor me”.’
‘It was what hearing people think deaf people experience. Very insular, cut-off, small. It was so sad. And that’s not me.’
Rose and the Strictly team then managed to rework the routine and then the magic happened.
‘From there, we created the dance, shaping and changing it throughout the week,’ she went on.
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‘[It felt] more true to me. It was only at camera rehearsals in the studio, when I was told the crew – who never stop – all dropped what they were doing to watch that I thought, “S**t. This might be a big deal”.’
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