Shock Strictly split as couple call it quits after falling for each other on the show
STRICTLY Come Dancing professionals Giovanni Pernice and Jowita Przystal have split.
The pair, who fell for one another during the last series of the BBC dancing show, chose to end their relationship this week, pals revealed.
A source said: “Giovanni and Jowita enjoyed a number of dates after the last series of Strictly and they got on really well.
“But as time has passed they have found it increasingly difficult to build on their relationship because of their hectic work schedules.
“Giovanni is on tour for the next five months and trying to make time for each other has proved absolutely impossible.
“Although their relationship has ended Giovanni and Jowita said they will stay good friends.
“It is just a shame they couldn’t make it work.”
The Sun revealed in December that Sicilian dancer Giovanni and Polish pro Jowita, both 32, had fallen for each other during filming.
Jive specialist Giovanni made a move on Jowita as they spent time together backstage.
Jowita, who went on to win the competition with wildlife cameraman and presenter Hamza Yassin, was whisked off her feet by Giovanni.
They first set tongues wagging with a sizzling start-of-show routine in October.
Creew were said to have caught them kissing backstage.
But they kept the relationship under wraps until going public just before Christmas when they went to Chelsea ace Jorginho’s birthday party together in Surrey.
Weeks later they were seen holding hands on a date in London.
At the time The Sun told how dreadlocked Hamza was hurt by the photographs as he was said to have become besotted with Jowita during their time dancing together.
At the time, however, a source said that Jowita had always insisted to Hamza their relationship was nothing more than friendship.
They added: “While the pair of them were very close — and he was besotted with her — the romantic attraction was much more on her side than his.
“He was obviously hoping for a relationship.
“But those hopes were rocked when the news broke that Giovanni and Jowita had grown close.”
Jowita joined Strictly in 2021 and made show history last year by becoming the first professional to win the show in her first year paired with a celebrity.
She split from pro partner Michael Danilczuk, 31, before this year’s series.
Giovanni joined Strictly in 2015 and won with Rose Ayling-Ellis in 2021.
He has dated several former contestants including Coronation Street star Georgia May Foote, 32, and singer Ashley Roberts, 41,
Last year, he became the first male pro to dance in a same sex couple alongside BBC Radio 2’s Richie Anderson, 35.
