Paul Daniels’ widow and her dance partner Giovanni Pernice addressed rumours they were having a “passionate love affair” while revealing all about her missing jewellery on This Morning today.
The duo were quizzed by Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield about the reports after a series of snaps emerged of them looking very close.
When pressed on why she hasn’t been wearing her ring, the 59-year-old admitted: “I’ve never, ever worn jewellery at a rehearsal, ever, especially doing these rehearsals.”
Debbie continued: “If Giovanni grabs my hand – I don’t have big stones – but I could scratch him or pull a finger off.”
However, her safety rules seemingly didn’t apply to Giovanni, 27, who always wears diamond studded earrings in training – as pointed out by Phillip, 55.
“That’s fine,” the Italian dancer laughed, before claiming: “I can’t dance without these.”
But, Debbie went on: “You don’t wear your earrings to rehearsals…” as he unashamedly replied: “I do… you only see me on the face.”
Speaking out about suggestions they are more than just close pals, Giovanni added: “Which is really funny, actually. The thing is, when you’re on the show, you spend so much time with your dance partner and now we have this respect – we love each other as a person.
“But when you see in the paper that we’re having a love affair, it’s like both of us will just laugh,” as Debbie also stated: “We do have a giggle.”
The segment also saw Giovanni give Holly, 36, a quick dance lesson, which saw her admit: “Oh my god, I’m going to fall in love with you by the end of this.”
Strictly Come Dancing 2017 continues Saturday at 6.50pm on BBC One.
Daily Express :: TV and Radio Feed
