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Strictly Come Dancing is back to put another 15 celebrities through their paces on the dancefloor, all in the hope of lifting that glitterball trophy.
One of the fan-favourite elements of the show is the weekly group dance by the Strictly professionals, though sadly this year features one noticeable absence, Giovanni Pernice.
Why isn’t Giovanni Pernice in the Strictly Come Dancing group dances?
The seasoned dancer, who won the competition back in 2021 with Rose Ayling-Ellis, sustained an injury at the time of filming, which left him unable to perform the routines.
Back in 2020, Strictly had to change its format to be able to film during the coronavirus pandemic restrictions. Instead of having a live group dance every week, the professionals made a ‘Covid bubble’ and filmed all of the routines in August, before the competition began. As it was so successful, the show decided to keep this approach moving forward.
However, in the summer, Giovanni was recovering from an ankle injury which he sustained during a performance of his show Him & Me with judge Anton Du Beke.
He told fans via social media: “As you probably know I’m on tour at the moment with Anton and doing one of the dances I did twist my ankle on stage. I have just been to the doctor, to the physio, and he advised [me] to rest for a few weeks.”
He added: “[The injury] also means that I am going to miss a few of the Strictly professional group numbers, but I just need to give some rest to my ankle and come back stronger than ever for the upcoming series of Strictly Come Dancing – which I’m really looking forward to.”
Fortunately, Giovanni will still appear on the show, as he takes to the dancefloor with his celebrity partner, Sherlock star Amanda Abbington.
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday at 6.15pm on BBC One.
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