Rose Ayling-Ellis was very much the doting friend as she showed her support to her former Strictly Come Dancing dance partner Giovanni Pernice on Sunday. The former EastEnders actress, who made history by becoming the first deaf contestant to appear and win the BBC show, was among the many guests at Giovanni's London Palladium show – and fans were quick to capture a sweet moment between the two.
Re-sharing the pictures on Instagram Stories, the professional dancer looked elated to see Rose after his performance as they shared a sweet hug. Over on her own page, Rose was seen greeting fellow guests who lined up to meet her during a break.
Rose and Giovanni became close friends as they danced their way to victory back in 2021, and the actress recently admitted that she misses her former partner. Speaking to HELLO! at the launch of the BBC Earth Experience in London, Rose was asked whether she misses Giovanni, and she nodded enthusiastically. The 28-year-old then commented on whether we can expect to see the iconic pairing on TV again in the future, as you can see in the video below…
It was a special night for Giovanni as he took to social media to pen: "One day somebody told me 'Believe in yourself. You are braver than you think, more talented than you know, and capable of more than you imagine'. And last night I felt proud of myself! Played my OWN SOLO SHOW in one of the most iconic theatre in Europe!
"I'm grateful to all the 2300 people seating in the audience making sure that we were having the best time of our lifes on stage!! We felt the love, moment like this I will always treasure in my [hert] THANK YOU! Now I have to top that up for next year… loooooooooove the challenge.. you know me bigger and better!! I promise."
Meanwhile, their sweet reunion comes shortly after Giovanni – who recently split from fellow dancer Jowita Przystal - spoke to Spencer Matthews on the Made In Chelsea star's podcast, Big Fish, addressing why so many dancers date each other.
He said: "When you’re in competition, it’s either you're in a relationship with your partner, because you spend most of your time with your partner, literally 24/7, and you travel with your partner. Or you're just single and enjoy your time around when you can.
"It's impossible sometimes, but that's the reason why most of the dance couples are together, because it’s either this or nothing. And they stop dancing, and they break up straight away." He went on to say that dancing puts "a lot of pressure" on his ability to have a "normal" relationship.
MORE: Rose Ayling-Ellis defends Strictly's Giovanni Pernice after hilarious gaffe
As well as fellow dancer Jowita, Giovanni has been linked to Strictly contestant Ashley Roberts from the Pussycat Dolls, Love Island star Maura Higgins and TOWIE's Jessica Wright. Giovanni also candidly reflected on the fact that he won't be able to dance forever but hopes to carry on for as long as he can.
He said: "Dancing is like being a footballer, you don’t play football forever or dance forever. But I know that have to ride the wave. My legs are still going, my body is still going, so go for it Giovanni, you will rest when all of these things don't work anymore."
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