It's almost three years since Giovanni Pernice and Rose Ayling-Ellis first danced together, but the former Strictly pair still have many loyal fans.
While the Italian dancer has been in the news due to actress Amanda Abbington's fresh allegations that he was "nasty" when she was his celebrity partner on the show last autumn, an experience she previously said had left her with "mild PTSD", Rose has remained silent on the topic of Giovanni's teaching.
She returned to social media on Wednesday, however, with a behind-the-scenes glimpse into her life.
Not commenting on her former dance partner's current controversy, she instead highlighted a local sushi restaurant in Sheffield, where she is currently filming an exciting new drama.
In the short clip, Rose attempted to pick up some food with chopsticks and tagged Japanese restaurant Guyshi as she wrote: "Lovely people who take good care of me. Thanks to Sheffield's finest @mrdanwalker," self-deprecatingly adding: "I need to practice my chopstick skills…"
© InstagramWhat has Amanda said about Giovanni?
At the start of the last series, rumours soon began circulating that the pair were not getting along, which they initially brushed off.
Amanda then abruptly quit the show for "personal reasons" in October. She's since opened up about her discomfort with Giovanni's teaching techniques, and repportedly met up with some of his other former partners, who are rumoured to feel similarly.
As reported by the Daily Mail, the actress wanted to set the record straight about who asked for the pair's training sessions to be recorded, after it was previously reported that it was the BBC's idea.
© BBCAccording to journalist Katie Hind, the Sherlock star commented: "I asked for them to be recorded, it was me. Giovanni is nasty. He was awful to a few of us, a group of us."
She also told the publication: "I went to producers early on and told them about Giovanni," and added: "You don’t understand how awful this all is. Giovanni's fans have started trolling me now. I have had to come off social media and I’m getting death threats."
© Ken McKay/ITV/ShutterstockWhat did Rose say about Giovanni's teaching?
Rose and the Sicilian star appeared to get along incredibly well during their successful partnership in 2021, with viewers calling for them to reunite ever since.
Speaking about their time on Strictly after the end of the series, the actress commented: "I started off finding dancing very confusing. It was a strange new skill.
© Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock"But Giovanni was so good. He listened and learnt a lot from me. We learnt very quickly that, if we were together, I could follow him."
Every Strictly Come Dancing winner so far
- 2004: Natisha Kaplinsky (partner Brendan Cole)
- 2004: Jill Halfpenny (partner Darren Bennett)
- 2005: Darren Gough (partner Lilia Kopylova)
- 2006: Mark Ramprakash (partner Karen Hardy)
- 2007: Alesha Dixon (partner Matthew Cutler)
- 2008: Tom Chambers (partner Camilla Dallerup)
- 2009: Chris Hollins (partner Ola Jordan)
- 2010: Kara Tointon (partner Artem Chigvintsev)
- 2011: Harry Judd (partner Aliona Vilani)
- 2012: Louis Smith (partner Flavia Cacace)
- 2013: Abbey Clancy (partner Aljaž Škorjanec)
- 2014: Caroline Flack (partner Pasha Kovalev)
- 2015: Jay McGuiness (partner Aliona Vilani)
- 2016: Ore Oduba (partner Joanne Clifton)
- 2017: Joe McFadden (partner Katya Jones)
- 2018: Stacey Dooley (partner Kevin Clifton)
- 2019: Kelvin Fletcher (partner Oti Mabuse)
- 2020: Bill Bailey (partner Oti Mabuse)
- 2021: Rose Ayling-Ellis (partner Giovanni Pernice)
- 2022: Hamza Yassin (partner Jowita Przystał)
- 2023: Ellie Leach (partner Vito Coppola)
What was the BBC's response to Amanda's allegations?
The corporation recently put out a statement, which read: "If a complaint is made to the BBC, we assess and take any necessary steps to establish the facts, whether there is a case to answer, and, if appropriate, what action should be taken.
© James Green"This is all within the context of the BBC having duties of care to everyone linked to a complaint – that applies to those that have raised the complaint and to those that have been complained about."
