Daily Mail - Daily Mail Weekend Magazine
STRICTLY FINISHED
Just a few weeks ago, last year’s runner-up Georgia May Foote was gushing to Rebecca Hardy about her love for partner Giovanni Pernice. Now it’s over. So why did he waltz out of her life?
Georgia May Foote and her partner Giovanni Pernice have been dating since they came second in 2015. So why is it suddenly over?
Never mind the frantic footwork, it’s the merry-goround of Strictly romances that’s the hardest part to keep up with. Tradition has it that the Curse of Strictly – whereby seemingly solid relationships disintegrate as soon as a celeb falls into the arms of their professional partner – must strike at least once a series.
Last year it happened with Georgia May Foote. And how. One minute the former Coronation Street actress was loved-up with one-time co-star Sean Ward, whom she’d met on her five-year stint on the show. The next she was smitten with her Strictly partner, the sizzling Sicilian Giovanni Pernice.
When we met a few weeks ago, she was still dancing on air. Her Strictly success has led to a much-coveted role as Holly Golightly in the UK tour of Breakfast At Tiffany’s. And her romance with Giovanni – whom she calls Gio – was just about the best thing that had happened to her.
He was The One, her huge smiles confirmed. Not only was he her soul mate and best friend, but he even gave her the confidence to move to London and take on a role in Tiffany’s, she said. ‘He’s so supportive. I think that’s why my career has been going so well.’
All this gushing was either real or, given what was to follow, she’s a better actress than anyone has given her credit for. ‘Gio is everything to me,’ she said. ‘I’m 100 per cent happy with Gio. He’s smitten and I’m the same. We trust each other. We fell in love as friends before anything happened.’
She was a tad hazy about where her last boyfriend fitted into this, brushing off questions about whether she was unfaithful and declining to elaborate on reports Sean had a meltdown in a hotel after the Strictly final. He was reported to have flown into a jealous rage and smashed a wine bottle over his head, ‘thrown Georgia around’ and shattered her phone. Onlookers, including Strictly contestant Katie Derham’s husband John Vincent, reportedly intervened, as did hotel staff, who wanted to call the police.
Still, she was happy to tell me about Giovanni and the Mills & Boon nature of their romance – hating each other then slowly realising they were meant to be together. ‘I couldn’t stand him on the show. We’d fight like cat and dog. I knew he was handsome but I didn’t have feelings towards him. Why would I? When you’re rehearsing you’re sweaty and you smell.’ Things changed, though. ‘I don’t think there was a moment,’ she said, when I asked when the coup de
foudre was. ‘It’s more and more every day. I think it was after a month when it was, “Oh, I really fancy you.”’
She did paint a convincing picture of why Strictly romances develop. ‘You build up massive trust. Once I messed up my samba, Gio spun me round and put me in the right place. He always said, “If you mess up, I’m here.”’
As she spoke, she was wearing a ring on her engagement finger, although she pointed out it was not an official engagement ring. ‘When an Italian man gets a girlfriend they’re serious about, they give them a ring which they have to wear on this finger.’ She waggled it around in the air. ‘It means they think “this is the one”.’
Alas for poor Georgia, that ring seems to have said nothing of the sort. Just days after that gushing interview, it was announced that her great romance with Giovanni was off. And quicker than you can change direction in a particularly fast foxtrot, she altered her assessment of their relationship.
She admitted on Twitter, ‘It is with great sadness we have decided to split up. There is nobody else involved. Although it was not an easy decision to make, sometimes you realise that it is better to be friends and this is one of these times.’ Giovanni retweeted the message to his fans. Later she moved to quell speculation that the relationship had been a bit of a glitterball – sparkly on the outside but ultimately hollow. ‘Nothing I ever said about my feelings to Gio were fake, before people start. I still love him very much. But things change. Gutted isn’t the word.’
It’s an extraordinary turn of events – surely if it was a mutual decision, she wouldn’t have been quite so effusive about him being The One – but should we be surprised? Celebrity dating, particularly on Strictly, follows very peculiar rules. It’s curious too that their split came just as Giovanni prepared to take to the Strictly floor again – ironically this time he’s partnered with Georgia’s good friend Laura Whitmore. Even when they were together Georgia admitted she’d find it hard to see him dancing with someone else. ‘Of course I’ll get jealous,’ she said at the time. A cynic might suggest that their romance – so crucial to keeping both parties in the headlines – was just a bit too convenient. Perhaps it has served its purpose, though. Strictly has offered Georgia a stepping stone away from Corrie – after Tiffany’s she goes into The Rocky Horror Show, and there’s a secret project involving a TV comedy. She’s certainly not lacking in confidence now as well, saying in our interview that her grandmother likens her to a young Catherine Zeta-Jones. ‘It’s a nice person to be compared to. I may look young, little and cute but I’ve got guts. I won’t be nasty but I’ll go for something I want. I’ve got to go places. I’ve got to make sure I go to super places on holiday. I’ve got to do a film – like a Marvel film. I will be a Marvel Girl.’ Clearly, it’s a journey she’ll now be starting alone. And what of Gio? Well, he’s moved on – to Laura, on the dance floor anyway. Funnily enough, Georgia herself said something that suggests there’s only room for two in this sort of environment. She spoke of Strictly partners having a ‘weird little connection’. ‘You get so emotionally involved. When you’re having down days and thinking, “I can’t do this”, they’re the only one who can help you.’ Take heed then, Laura. That’s a warning from someone who knows.
‘It was after a month when I thought, “Oh, I really fancy you”’