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Former Strictly Coming Dancing star Giovanni Pernice is returning to TV screens in a gruelling reality show, and he is "thrilled" to be back on screens, a source said. The dancer, 35, has swapped dance shoes for combat boots as he is set to appear on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.

Giovanni has reportedly flown to Thailand to film the new series, which will air early next year. It has been three years since the professional dancer exited the BBC Latin and ballroom show following bullying allegations made by Amanda Abbington during rehearsals together. The Sherlock actress, 52, had accused him of being "unnecessary, abusive, cruel and mean", and several of Giovanni's former dance partners also claimed they had been unhappy with his behaviour.

Giovanni denied any wrongdoing, and in 2024 the BBC apologised to Amanda after an investigation upheld some of her complaints about Giovanni, but cleared him of the most serious allegations.

A source told The Sun: "Producers are absolutely thrilled by the signing of Gio. He is a real housewives' favourite and has an absolutely huge fan base, especially among women, so bosses are hopeful he may draw in a few Strictly fans. He's also incredibly fit and mentally resilient after years of professional dance training.

"The fallout from his Strictly exit was also pretty brutal and frankly, Giovanni reckons there is nothing that can hurt him now. He is excited to get back to doing what he does best - entertaining and giving himself a real challenge. He's thrilled to be back on screens after a painfully long break. It promises to be an amazing series."

Since Giovanni left Strictly, he went on a similar dance show in Italy, Ballando con le Stelle, and he said: "It was nice to be able to have that (positive) communication with people, because once the results of the investigation came out, those people who had left me came back and I was like 'Hmm, this is not nice'."

This is not the first time a Strictly star has joined the Channel 4 series; dancer AJ Pritchard was one of the four winners of series 4, which aired in October 2022.