He has spoken about how difficult it was to pursue ballroom in a macho Sicilian culture, saying: “There’s a kind of attitude that if you’re a dancer you’re not a proper man.” He wasn’t popular at school, he recalls, but that didn’t dent his determination – though, perhaps, it’s led him to overcompensate at times.
At the age of only 14, he moved to Bologna after winning a scholarship to train at a top dance school. He had to grow up fast, though, and admitted that there were times he cried on the phone to his mother. But she kept encouraging him to continue.
That helped to shape what would become a champion’s mindset, but hardened Pernice. He’s noted that getting used to being alone makes you laser-focused, with no distractions – he even skipped birthdays and Christmas. “As a young man, I got used to being alone and having to deal with difficult emotions by myself,” he told a newspaper. Who could blame him if he struggled to empathise with partners who don’t think in the same way?
Still, that attitude as a young dancer paid off. Pernice, who specialised in the Latin dances, travelled the world competing, and in 2012 he became the Italian champion with partner Erika Attisano (a victory immortalised in a tattoo on his wrist). That winning feeling was addictive, he’s admitted. “I thought, ‘Being the champion feels nice. Let me have more of it!’”
In 2015, he moved to London to compete on Strictly. The language barrier was an issue – Pernice has revealed he needed a translator in his ear for that first season. But he immediately won over the public, and he’s racked up impressive results on the show: he took Debbie McGee all the way to the final in 2017, before finally lifting the glitterball trophy with Ayling-Ellis in 2021.
Pernice has since leveraged his Strictly fame to amp up his theatre and TV career. He joined the official annual Strictly stage tour, and has headlined his own, too: Dance is Life, Made In Italy and, coming up in 2024, Let Me Entertain You. He and Anton Du Beke, his fellow Strictly pro who is now a judge on the show, have become a team, co-headlining the 2021 stage show Him and Me and presenting the BBC travel series Anton & Giovanni’s Adventures in Sicily. Pernice has also appeared on Pointless Celebrities and as a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
