Giovanni Pernice has opened up about his dance partner Rose Ayling-Ellis, and how he knew that she would be a great contestant from the beginning! Chatting to HELLO! ahead of the pair receiving their perfect score on Halloween week on Strictly Come Dancing, the dancing pro was asked if he knew that Rose could be a potential winner when they started training together.
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He said: "I knew I had a really good student. I always say it's the strongest mindset that wins the competition rather than the best dancer. Strictly is hard on the celebrities – much harder than most realise when they sign up – but if you're able to survive 13 weeks mentally, then you're halfway there. Rose is strong-minded. And she listens."
WATCH: Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice play Hello/Goodbye
Rose added: "You learn so much about yourself doing the show. I've never done a sport, so I've surprised myself at how, every day, I can push myself a bit more and a bit more. And my confidence has grown. I feel I can just be myself now.
Giovanni opened up about training with Rose
"Going into a show that's such a huge platform and being yourself is scary because you're so exposed. But the response has been so positive, I feel like, 'Oh, ok, that's good, I'll just carry on being me then!'"
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The pair scored 40 marks on Saturday
The EastEnders actress, who is the show's first deaf contestant, has opened up about how much she has been loving the experience, adding: "Even when I'm lying in bed at four in the morning with the steps running round in my head, thinking, 'Noooo, I need sleep!' and even when we have a bad day and I just can't seem to get anything right, I love it and I don't want it to end."
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