Strictly Come Dancing star Karen Hauer has admitted Giovanni Pernice's exit was a 'massive surprise'. In June, the BBC confirmed the professional dancer line-up for the upcoming 2024 series, due to start in the autumn, which didn't include the Italian dancer.
The 33-year-old was last paired with Sherlock actress Amanda Abbington, who withdrew from the competition in 2023 citing “personal reasons” but Giovanni has since been subject to a number of allegations regarding his conduct in the training room which he rejects.Join our WhatsApp Top Stories and Breaking News group by clicking this link
Speaking about Giovanni's exit from the show to the Mirror, Karen said: "We will miss him. It was a massive surprise. Things can happen that we don’t know about. I don’t want to say anything that’s not right, and I don’t want to hurt anyone. It comes after fellow Strictly dancer Michelle Tsiakkas spoke out about the situation and confessed she's still in touch with under-fire Giovanni. Speaking to The Sun at the TRIC Awards, Michelle said: "We're sad about losing Giovanni - we are a big family at the end of the day, so we just want to continue being that family and supporting each other.