Strictly: Giovanni Pernice says he would have been ‘jealous’ if Rose Ayling-Ellis hadn’t danced with him

‘Since day one, it’s been a dream,’ dancer said

Giovanni Pernice has admitted that he would have been “jealous” if he hadn’t been paired with Rose Ayling-Ellis on Strictly Come Dancing.

EastEnders star Ayling-Ellis is the current frontrunner to win the dancing competition series, after coming joint top of the leaderboard in the semi-final with a near-perfect 79 out of 80 points.

Appearing on Strictly’s sister show It Takes Two on Thursday (16 December), Pernice was asked by host Janette Manrara how he’d approached the “challenge” when first learning he would be dancing with Ayling-Ellis, who is deaf.

“​​I think at first, obviously it was different because I’ve never done anything like this before,” the dancer said.

“I myself realised that I have to change and adapt my way of teaching and only with the help of Rose, we managed to find this way that works for both of us. Because if it was only me, it probably wouldn’t work, my way. So we just ended [where] both of us understand what’s good for us.”

Pernice continued: “Since day one, it’s been a dream. If she was dancing with somebody else, I’d probably be jealous. I’d be, ‘Argh, I want to dance with her.’”

During Saturday (18 December) night’s final, Ayling-Ellis and Pernice will perform their quickstep to “Love is an Open Door” from Frozen again, as well as their couples choice to “Symphony”, which left the judges in tears with a segment performed in complete silence.

Ayling-Ellis and Pernice will perform their couples choice routine again (BBC/Guy Levy)

They will also perform a showdance, which can be in any style and does not have any rules.

Ayling-Ellis will compete alongside John Whaite and AJ Odudu in the final, although the latter’s spot is currently unclear after she suffered a serious injury in her foot this week.

Strictly Come Dancing concludes Saturday 18 December at 7pm on BBC One.