Unseen posts reveal how Giovanni Pernice arrived in London a fresh-faced young dancer with a simple dream 'not to be rich, just to be happy'. So, as insiders reveal his 'BBC fame changed him', where DID it all go wrong for Strictly's Italian Stallion? By Martin Robinson, Chief Reporter Published: 03:51 EDT, 25 May 2024 | Updated: 04:13 EDT, 25 May 2024 e-mail 5 shares View comments Dancing without a care in the world, these unseen family photographs show Giovanni Pernice in his pomp back home in Italy before his Strictly dream came true. The star arrived in London almost ten years ago with barely a word of English and needing a BBC translator to get him through his first series where he got to the final with Georgia May Foote.
MailOnline can reveal he could not curb his enthusiasm when he emigrated, sharing a picture of his passport and tickets from Palermo to London via Milan with the caption in Italian: 'Finally. Strictly Come Dancing. I'm coming'.
His ever-loyal mother Rosalba replied with kissing emojis: 'My love you will be great'. Giovanni had left home aged 14 to go to dance school in Bologna, 800 miles away from his parents and sister in Sicily. But the sacrifices, and many tears in homesick phone calls to his family, were worth it after winning the Italian Championships in 2012 at the age of 22.
When he landed in London three years later the fresh-faced dancer posed happily in front of Big Ben on Facebook , where weeks earlier he had said: 'I want to live my life wit.
